


The Stone in His Chest

by Chuchiwan



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: (throwing these last two tag in to make this seem not as bad as it probably is), Attempted Homocide, Blood Drinking, Blood Kink, Cuddles, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Human Bill Cipher, M/M, Minor Character Death, Older Mabel and Dipper, Spoilers, Spoilers - Journal 3, Suicide, Threats of Rape/Non-Con, Tragedy, a few theorizations, hints of Stancest, no extreme abuse, rough relationship, takes place after the show
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-10
Updated: 2017-08-27
Packaged: 2018-07-14 06:45:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 54
Words: 94,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7158029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chuchiwan/pseuds/Chuchiwan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mabel and Dipper have enjoyed summers spent up in Gravity Falls with their great uncles for a few years. But this summer brings with it fear and pain from an entity thought to be erased from existence. Dipper is determined to change things... But with unknown sacrifices that may lead to his own destruction.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. In The Fog

**Author's Note:**

> Hello~ so this is my first Gravity Falls fanfic! One of the main reasons I am writing this Bipper story is because I like this pair and almost every story I find for them is abuse, violence, self harm, and so on. I understand Bill is somewhat of a demon, but I don't like to see Dipper get mutilated in their apparent 'love' stories. And so, there may be a hateful relationship of enemies in the beginning, things will began to change. Hope you like it!

The air was thick. This could be a feeling contrived by the dense, claustrophobic fog. Or, it could very well be that the air was simply thicker in the cemetery. He was hoping for the first, but wishing for the latter as he sat on the headstone, it's owner's name long withered away. 

Scratching his head with his pencil, he documented in his journal that 'in certain areas of the graveyard, it was hard to move or breathe, as if in a bubble of honey.' Scratch that; it sounded dumb- 'like an increase of gravity, always by graves with their dates too faded to make out.' Satisfied, he hauled his backpack from the grave beside him and shoved his journal among his school books.

As he wandered through the fog towards the exist of the cemetery, his mind trailed back to the letter he had, still laying on the desk to his room at home from his two great uncles, who (as far as the letter proclaimed) were on an island close to the Bermuda Triangle. Fifteen pages inclosed some of what Stanford would be investigating: the water being magnetically charged, and two paragraphs from Stanley saying that they would both show off the cool things they had snagged along their travels that upcoming summer. 

He itched for summer. Not because there was a misquote currently sucking his blood through his jacket sleeve. "Ow!" He slapped his arm and the bug splattered with his own blood, leaving a red mark on his favorite jacket. "Great. Just great!" Yes, summers in Oregon with his great uncles beat the scorching and unpredictable desert-like weather of California. And, he couldn't wait to get away from high school where he was constantly bullied, to Gravity Falls where he could show grunkle Ford the -small, but very- weird things he had documented near his house. He had even accidentally stepped in a fairy circle a few weeks ago. Boy, that had warped his perception of fairies. If Mabel hadn't saved him, he'd probably be absorbed by the fairies so that they could become taller and be able live among humans... But he doubted the possibility of that actually happening, as no one among them knew where that idea had come about.

The (quite literal) deathly silence of the street outside of the cemetery had him biting his lip. Days were getting longer as spring settled into winter's seat, but staying out until seven left him with just the last rays of light, hidden by dark clouds that were sure to be rain clouds soon enough. The fog spilling out of the graveyard made it almost look like snow. But in this section of the valley, fog was the closest he ever got to snow, even in the dead of winter. He hadn't meant to stay out this late. He would have to hurry home before his phone started screaming its annoying ringtone, saying that Mabel or their mom was calling him- Oh shit! The blood on his jacket sleeve! He'd have to hide it from his mom as he had promised not to get any stains on it during the first week of possessing it.

Too consumed with his thoughts, he didn't take notice of the other figure lurking in the fog... They were following him to his left. A hand sprung out from the fog to grab the hood of his jacket, but retreated into the cloudy oblivion as yet another figure jumped from the fog. "Boo!" the figure yelled in the boy's face, who screamed in a deeper voice than he normally did. Puberty had evened it out some, but he was still embarrassed of it's feminine quality. The one that had attacked him was his twin sister, who was bent over in laughter as he tried to slow his heart-rate and hyperventilation. 

"Mabel! That wasn't funny!" She patted his shoulder, still trying to stop laughing "Oh my gosh, your scream! Totally worth it!" She belted out another dorky snort of a laugh and he sighed, trying not to get angry. He started walking for home with Mabel in toe. He asked, half interested, while the other half was still a bit pissed at her "Why are you even out here? Shouldn't you be doing your homework?" "I knew you'd be out 'mystery hunting' and you were talking about the graveyard in your sleep last night! I could hear you through the wall." Upon saying 'mystery hunting' she attempted an impression of the weather man... At least, that's what it sounded like to him. Their house was coming into view now and Mabel raced ahead, walking backwards to keep an eye on him "Dipper, you'll be excited to know that I already finished my homework - BEFORE YOU!" She started laughing triumphantly, but was cut short as she tripped over the raised curb. Her thumb quickly shot up and from her hair covered face came the gruff "I'm good." 

Dipper helped her up and let her inside the house first. She was going on about needing to cover her scratched hand with some glitter glue so that, when it healed, her skin would be sparkly. Both he and their mom called 'No it won't' in the hopes of stopping her, but by the sound of her bedroom door closing quickly, she was probably on her way to doing it anyway. He was about to step inside and ask what was for dinner when something moving in the fog over in the street caught his eye. Yet, when he turned to face it, the fog did not stir. This usually meant nothing, but Dipper felt something... Something familiar and terrifyingly close.  
"Come inside and close the door, you'll let the fog in." His mom called from inside the house. He shook his head and backed into the house as to keep an eye on the fog before closing the door and locking it up tight. 

The being in the fog smiled broadly at the thrill of being caught for the first time. It was only a matter of patience. 

After all; summer was just around the corner.


	2. Outside His Window

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah~ so I lied. It would take FOREVER for this story to go anywhere if I put only one chapter up a week. On that realization, I have decided to try and post a new chapter every other day. I may fail at some point to update on time, but not to fear! This story will be sought through til the end!

Dipper had trouble sleeping through the next couple of nights. It seemed that his eyes would constantly travel to his bedroom window overlooking the street. Mabel hadn't asked any questions or made fun of him when he asked to sleep in her room the night before. After what had happened to the both of them during their first summer in Gravity Falls, nightmares were not uncommon. Dipper's just seemed to be more frequent and more violent than her's because of his anxious and worried behaviors. But he hadn't dreamt those horrible dreams for a couple of weeks; he just had an unspeakable sense of danger right outside his window.

His eyes shifted from the window to his desk in the corner. The moonlight coming in was bright enough for him to make out his journal, a few sheets of homework that were finished, pencils with green aliens printed on black plastic wrappings, and three or four of the best pictures taken during he and Mabel's summers in Gravity Falls. The one with Grunkle Ford and Stan squishing pie in he and Mabel's faces at their fifteenth birthday party was the most recent and, even though the fear of the thing in the fog still lingered in the forefront of his mind, he smiled at the memory. 

There was a noise, and then a shadow stretched into his room, covering his view of the desk and making him inhaled sharply. A triangle. A triangle with arms and legs. In a fit of fear, he struggled out of his blankets and jumped back, grabbing the first thing he could to use as a weapon -which ended up being a movie case. He pointed it to the window with shaky, fumbling hands. Nothing. His eyes looked around frantically and found that the only thing to be observed was the window laying open. He sat down the movie and quickly shut the window, locking it again. He had locked it before, hadn't he? The adrenalin was blurring his thoughts and he couldn't remember if he had or not. He turned on the lights of his room and, just for a second, he saw him: Bill Cipher, hovering and faced away from him.   
Gasping filled the darkness and his eyes followed the curves of the roof above his bed. He looked back to the window, but it hadn't changed. Straight across and above his desk, was the tacked up picture of his fifteenth birthday, But, unlike before, the image made his stomach ache.

"Mabel?" She stirred but didn't wake, so he crept further into her room, jumping unintentionally when the door squeaked behind him. He nudged her arm and she lightly swatted it away. He tried again and got a swift kick in the gut. Man, she acquired super human strength in her sleep or something. He was still trying to breathe when his twin pushed her blankets back and sat up groggily. "Dipper?" "Yeah." He felt awkward, explaining himself, but it seemed tonight was not going to be pushed under the rug. "Did you have another nightmare?" 

Had it been a nightmare? He wish he had the peace of mind to think and be so sure as the concern was drawn across her face... "Mabel, I think..." He looked for words, but failing to grasp any, he met her with an unsure expression. She huffed a piece of hair from her eyes and scooted over with a reluctant sigh "Alrighty bed-buddy, but I'm inviting over some girls from school tomorrow night so... Are you alright? You're shaking a lot." She laughed that way she does when she's trying to lighten the mood. He offered her a weak smile as he climbed into her bed.  
"I... Sorry for being such a baby about these... nightmares." He couldn't tell her about seeing Bill; it would freak her out as much as he was. Bill Cipher was dead, wasn't he? Grunkle Stan and Ford had gotten rid of him for good... Right? She rubbed her wiggly hands in his face "Ow, Mabel-" "Don't worry, I'll take care of you..." She then poked his cheek and added with a stifled giggle "Baby Dipper." Dipper stared up at the ceiling with furrowed brows. "Don't me call that." The room was silent for a long moment and then a whisper of "Baby Dipper." The latter groaned and turned away from her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hoped you liked this chapter! Again; thanks to Mystrious Mr.K for fixing all my horrible grammer mistakes! Please look forward to the next chapter~


	3. Return to Summer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter~! This is the real start to the story I believe... Enjoy!

The bus pulled up to the station with a loud hiss. Among their luggage, Mabel was bouncing with excitement. She screamed when she saw Stanley, Stanford, Soos, Melody, Wendy, Grenda, and Candy waving at her through the window. Turning, and still screaming, she shook Dipper roughly, who joined in on the screaming for an entirely different reason. She jumped over him as he rubbed what was left of the sleep from his eyes. 

Mabel practically- wait, no...literally jumped on Grunkle Stan, who only stayed standing because his twin brother held his shoulders to steady him.

Dipper stepped off the bus with a bag over his shoulder and smiled as Soos came at him with a big 'bro hug' as he had declared it and lifted him off his feet. It was crushing his spine, but he endured it "Dude, you're like a string bean or somethin'." Dipper was turning red in the face, most likely from the loss of air. Thankfully, Melody patted Soos on the shoulder and he let go of him, rubbing at his neck "Oh, sorry about that." Taking a deep breath, Dipper smiled "It's fine." 

"Whoa, Dipper, was that your voice? You don't sound like a broken whistle anymore." Wendy ruffled his hair. He was a little bothered by his hair being messed up, and the fact that she seemed to still tower over him, but his smile betrayed his mood. Before he could defend his voice, Ford clapped him on the shoulder "Forgetting to say hi to someone?" Never. Dipper would never forget about his two Grunkles. Even though he thought hugging relatives was awkward, especially in front of friends, he pulled both of his great uncles into a hug. Mabel had managed to latch onto Stan's leg 'Making it a four-some hug'. God, Dipper really wished his sister knew how that sounded. The hug dispatched as it usually did with the Pines family: awkward coughs and minimal eye contact.  
The Mystery Shack was still the same. Even the smell of dust and mildew that emitted from the cheap merchandise in the gift shop remained. Melody led Dipper and Mabel to the room they shared every summer... It was pink. "Melody! I love what you've done with the place!" Mabel noticed the small crib in the corner and stared at it with an oblivious smile before turning back to her. "Awe~ You got Waddles a wittle bed!" Dipper sighed and Melody looked to him sympathetically. "You don't mind, do you? It's only temporary." He shrugged it off and scratched his cheek awkwardly. "So, uh... Are you..." She waved her hand dismissively with a laugh, "Nah, I just planned out a nursery for a baby girl before I even got pregnant." This lost Dipper. He stared at her smiling face as Mabel pointed out the piece of gum she had put on the ceiling the year before. "Was that... Sarcasm?" She nodded and his eyes widened. "You're serious?! Oh my god, c-congratulations!" 

Mabel gasped audibly, "Wait, you mean there's going to be a little Soos- Soos.jr!? OOOOHHH MY GOD!" "Don't worry about the baby taking over the room; Soos painted this room before realizing that the baby should be on the bottom floor with us. You should have seen his face, he looked like he had seen some murder or something. Anyways, you two make yourself at home, I've got to go clean up a snow globe accident in the gift shop." They both called after her, "Okay, thanks Melody!" 

When she left the room, Dipper dropped his bag where he stood and let himself fall backward onto the dusty bed. He let his eyes start to close, but held them open as Mabel's face appeared above his "Hey, sleepy-head. You going to take a nap or something?" Nodding in response, he watched as she lingered before hoping off his bed and starting for the stairs. "I'm going to be out talking to Candy and Grenda about Candy's spring dance~! I know you don't want to miss it, so hurry up and come down stairs!" 

Back in California, it had been hell since the night he saw (or thought he saw) Bill in his room. Nightmares and eerie feelings followed him everywhere. He tried his best to not make Mabel or their parents worry, but the seniors that regularly bullied him had stepped up their game when they noticed his fidgety behavior. His nickname at school had become 'twitchy-bitchy.' Mabel had bit a boy in her class when she had heard him refer to her brother like that, sending her to the principal's office, which led to their parents getting involved. 

The next week, Dipper had gone home with his nickname written on his shirt. His mom had hugged him and he had flinched away from the anger hidden behind her sympathetic expression. He couldn't have possibly told his parents about what had happened during Weirdmageddon in Gravity Falls unless he never wanted to see his friends and great uncles again. So, he didn't tell them. But Mabel had butted in and told their parents that he had been having nightmares and couldn't sleep. That had led to their parents confiscating all his video games and movies, thinking that their 'violence' was the cause.

The paranoia of Bill still being alive and out there watching him was visible in the bags that had developed under his eyes from little to no sleep. But here, in The Mystery Shack, with everyone who helped in the fight against Bill, he let himself relax.

"Hey, Pinetree!" He screamed and sat up. No one was in the room, but he could have sworn he heard... "No." He clamped his eyes tightly shut and took a deep breath to calm himself. It had been a nightmare. He looked out the window and saw Mabel and her friends out by the totem pole. Candy and Grenda laughed as his sister made a sour gummy look like a long bugger dangling from her nose. Stan and Ford were talking to Soos about something. Dipper would be part of this scene, too. He would talk to uncle Ford about Bill, who would reassure him that he was getting worried for no reason.

He got up from the bed, and went downstairs to join the others.


	4. I'm Jim

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't really have anything to say about this one... So... Enjoy!

"Dipper! You finally got up, you lazy bag of bones!" Mabel shoved a bag of gummy worms in his face, shacking them and wiggling her brow in the hopes he would take one, but he had seen her from the window and wasn't sure if she had ate the worm she had up her nose or just thrown it back in the bag, so he ignored the bag being shoved in his face and looked to her "Mabel, where's uncle Ford?" She shrugged and shoved a handful of the sour works into her mouth, tearing up as she tried to chew them, but gave up and spit them back into the bag. yep, he was glad he hadn't taken any of those "He probably went to his lab- but there's Grunkle Stan coming out of the closet!" He looked over and saw Stan dragging a garbage bag out of a closet inside the house visible by a window. Dipper looked to his sister with a wary expression "Are you saying things like that on purpose?" She looked to him with a smile "What do you mean?" Candy looked up from the magazine she and Grenda were looking over and gave a muffled laugh. 

Instead of getting into anextremely awkward conversation with Mabel, he opted on taking his cue to leave "Well, I'm going to go talk to Uncle Ford." She looked over Grenda's shoulder and gasped at the magazine "Oh my gosh! He is so cute!" "I know! I just want to rip him out and squeeze him!" Grenda added. Having lost Mabel's attention, Dipper started back to the shack. He had taken his first step onto the porch when he saw something to the side of the house, he wasn't quite sure what it had been... But thinking it might be a creature he hadn't seen, he stepped from the door to the side of the building, where inside Stanley dragged the suspiciously heavy and slimy garbage bag with grunts of effort, mumbling about Ford being an ungrateful bastard. 

No one was on the back side of the house, only the yellowing grass clearing and the tree line. "Huh..." Guess he hadn't seen anything. He was on the verge of his foot turning to the front of the shack, but something grabbed his arms from behind, and covered his mouth so he couldn't scream... Well, he could and he did, but no one would have heard it. He tried kicking and elbowing the person- it was obviously human by the way the hand pulling at his face looked and felt. The perpetrator was yanking him to the woods. Oh god, this was a creep! He flailed his arms and legs, desperately, even going as far as biting the person's hand that covered his mouth, to no vail.

He watched in horror as he was dragged backwards into the wood. He was going to be killed! Oh fuck- or what if he decided to do something worst? The person suddenly threw him to the ground, laughing manically at his bleeding hand from where Dipper and bitten him. He tried to stand up, the man... No, he was a teenager, probably the same age as him, maybe a few years older, his spiked hair was blond, his skin a deathly pale, and his eyes- god, those scared Dipper the most- they were gold... And very cold for the size of the grin he was sporting.

The stranger pulled out a blade as he sat on the struggling boy's chest, he pointed the pocket knife at Dipper's throat and he stopped struggling "Who the hell are you?" He laughed, laughed like he had never heard something more hilarious... It was familiar some how. "Whoa, kid. You kiss you're mother with that mouth?" Dipper glared at him and was about to yell for help when the stranger pushed his blade harsher against his neck "Ah-ah~ you wouldn't want to spoil the moment by inviting your friends, would you?" "Who are you? What do you want with me?" He was trying to sound more angry than his fear, but when the stranger looked up to where he had pinned his hands above his head he was sure the assailant could see they were shacking, this seemed to only make him more excited.

"Revenge. The sweet gooey kind that has you all covered in it." Dipper gulped and tried to turn his head as far away from the stranger as he leaned over his face, his lips almost touching his ear. Dipper shut his eyes tight with a pathetic whimper, he wish he could call out for help, or shove this maniac off him, but the knife was nearly piercing his neck and any movement or call could drive this teen to kill him. The breath was on the shell of his ear, and he involuntarily flinched when the other started to whisper.

"Got you, Pinetree."

No.... No no no no no NO!! Dipper shoved against the other more violently than before, not caring as blood started to pour from a shallow gash in his neck, Bill was still smiling madly as he was over powered and his knife turned on him but in hands much too shaky "Aaah. It looks like I've been caught." He thought it was funny, huh? He was at the advantage now, Bill raised his hands up in a surrender. But why? Why was he giving up so easily? Dipper could kill him, and he wanted to... But he had a feeling he shouldn't... At least, not yet.

Standing, he put the other's knife to his side. The frown formed on Bill's face as he watched the other sparing him "So what, you think I'm not good enough to kill?" Dipper looked down at him, then yelled "Grunkle Stan! Help!" He could see the back clearing of the shack still and his great uncle just happened to be turning on the hose in the back when he called. Stanley saw him just barely through the trees and called back "Huh? What are you doin' out there, kid?" Dipper sighed, and yelled back "Come here!" 

"What do you plan to do? Tell him to kill me because you're too shrimpy to do it yourself? Gees, I didn't remember you were so pathetic." He ignored Bill, who wasn't even trying to fight his capture it seemed, but he was pissy about it... Like a teenager, oddly enough. Stan appeared among the trees with them, holding a can of Pit Soda while he looked between the two of them before taking a gulp from the can "So what? Were you about to shank him, or something?" He pointed to the knife Dipper was holding who stared at him with a look as if he was wondering where the hell he gotten that idea from and yelled frustratedly "He's Bill Cipher in disguise!" Now Stan had turned his look of himself. 

"That's crazy talk, I killed him, didn't I?" Then he noticed his grandnephew was bleeding and looked to the boy sitting on the ground looking rather bored with the current events "Who the hell are you?" Finally he stood "I'm Jim, my parents and I just moved in to town a week ago. Can I go now?" ... He was normal... Maybe, this was just some sicko? Could it be that Dipper had read into him calling him 'pinetree' too much? He wasn't wearing his hat though, so way would he call him that?

Stan groaned, then grabbed hold of Jim, twisting his shirt in his fist "My nephew might have a few screws loose, but I can see your hand prints on his arms. If you so much as look at him again, you'll be in some deep shit. Got it?" The teen wasn't smiling, and he nodded in understanding, not fazed in the least by the older man yelling in his face. He let Jim go and pulled Dipper with him back to the clearing, who chanced a look back and saw the stranger smiling insidiously.

They got inside the shack and went into the kitchen. Everyone was outside besides Ford, who was cooped up in his lab below. Dipper sat down in a chair at the table as Stan pulled out the first aid kit from above the sink.

"So, uh... What happened with that freakishly heavy kid? I mean, whoa. He looked light but when I went to yank him off his feet, he must store his fat somewhere because god damn he was like a whale!" His attempts to lighten the mood a bit weren't working as Dipper was too busy glaring at the wall, he turned to him then, however, with a desperate look in his eyes that made Stanley dread dealing with. 

"He was Bill! When he was pinning me down, he called me 'Pinetree' and said something about revenge! H-he must have come back somehow. Oh god... Why did he let me overpower him? It was like... He wanted to be captured or something... You don't believe me, do you?" It was hard to read his great uncles face at that moment, he was busying his hands with the medical kit, pulling disinfectant and a large bandaid from its confines and whipping up some of the blood from his neck for him. He seemed... Subdued, it was a weird mood for Dipper to see him in and it made him a bit more pissed.

"Kid, I think you just got your first taste of the real world, it isn't always creature from a different dimensions that want to hurt you. Stay away from that kid, nothing good can come from that look in his eyes." A silence fell over the both of them. Dipper realized what had happened could have looked like-hell, he thought that at one point through the whole ordeal- but it hadn't been that at all... 

Bill Cipher was back, and he wanted revenge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, right? FINALLY Bill has entered the story~!


	5. Forest Fire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this one in the car and now I'm all pukey... But it was totally worth it~! Hope you like it!

Dipper barely went outside for the next few days; only when Mabel was with him and he never left her side in fear of Bill dragging him off in the woods to kill him... One thing about what had happened before confused him: Why did Bill want to be captured? There was no way Bill would let him win that easily. It must be part of whatever he's up to this time around.

"-How's that scratch on your neck by the way?" Mabel's words broke through his thoughts and he felt guilty the moment they did... He should've told her the truth, he should've told uncle Ford what happened, but Stan had told everyone he had just tumbled in the woods. In his mind, protecting him from having to admit that he almost got molested. It frustrated Dipper to no end that Stan didn't believe him, but he didn't talk about it with him because it made Stan act all weird and overbearing.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I barely notice it's still there. No biggie." "So, what's the haps then? You're not getting in the summery time mood!" He looked away from her concerned face "I am in the 'summery time mood' see?" He turned back to her with a smile which only seemed to make her frown deepen "You look like you saw a baby kitten get ran over by a serial killer. Depressingly so." "Wow, Mabel... That's pretty dark."   
She was saying something- more like asking- about what was really going on with him when he saw Bill crossing the road just down the street from them, it felt as if it were slow motion as the boy who was Bill (or maybe just Bill's host) turned his head and grinned at him.

"Dipper! Earth to Dipper!" He looked back to her and asked dumbly "What?" She rolled her eyes and pointed at the teen who was walking away from them. "You were staring at that guy and he was majorly checking you out!" He wanted to curl up and die. Not only was she completely off the mark, she was... happy about it? He couldn't handle this any longer.

Rubbing at his face, he sighed loudly and stopped both of them on the sidewalk, having her face him fully "Do you wanna know why I haven't been sleeping? Why I have these bruises and this cut on my neck?" She nodded with big eyes and a grin as if he was about to tell her a story. "That 'Guy' is Bill Cipher! He survived somehow and wants revenge!" She frowned and his gut clenched. She wouldn't believe him either? He ventured to ask, "What?"

"I thought you were going to tell me something more like 'I have a crush on him' or at least something gossip worthy like 'he asked me out'." "Mabel! This is serious!" She rolled her eyes "Fine. But we need actual evidence that he's really Bill! INVESTIGATION TIME!!" Several people looked to them as they hurried by on their ways. 

"Okay, okay... But we need to be careful, he's fast and probably has another knife." Mabel gasped "He cut your neck? I'm going to rip his head off like a marshmallow bunny! But it will probably taste like pure evil instead of trans fats! " He had to wonder when Mabel had become the one to protect him when it had always seemed to be the other way around before, but he was grateful that she was giving him the benefit of the doubt.

They tailed the blonde for several blocks, he seemed to be oblivious to their prescience... But after a while, Dipper began to notice that the road he was leading them down lead away from town. Eventually, the road began to break away to dirt and went into the woods, leading to the old church where the dinosaurs laid hidden in tree sap underneath. He was trying to get them alone in the woods again.

Dipper stopped Mabel and whispered his concerns in her ear, neither of them noticing that the person they had been following had taken a sharp right into the woods, walking until he was out of sight "He's gone!" "Do you think he used his disappeary power?" "Probably, how else would we loose him so quickly?"

"Maybe 'cause you took your eyes off me." They both jumped back at the sudden appearance of the taller, grinning teen behind them. "You know, the funny thing about having two eyes instead of one? You have double the peripheral vision and you can see miles behind you without even having to twist your head around." Dipper glared, pushing Mabel and himself back a few steps from the other. "What do you want, Bill?" He took a step closer "I told you, Pinetree; I want revenge for ruining my plans, you and you and both your smelly old 'Grunkles'." Mabel screeched in anger "You butt!" and lunged at him, punching at him with seemingly no reaction, he pushed her roughly to the floor and Dipper stepped between them, brandishing the knife he had taken from Bill the first time he had attacked him. Bill laughed at the sight.

"What do think you're doing? Do you really think you can stab me? Go ahead Pinetree, come at me." Dipper ran at him with knife and was going to stab it right into his chest, to end this, but... that wasn't what he wanted, wasn't it? He stopped himself and instead punched him right in the nose, sending Bill stumblingly back, clutching his bleeding nose, his surprise broke into anger as he glared at Dipper who was shaking his hand from the pain in his knuckles. He had never punched someone before and damn, it hurt like hell!  
"What was THAT!? Are you really that pathetic!? 'Ooo~ I'm Dipper Pines, I'm a wimpy little boy!'" Ignoring Bill, Dipper helped Mabel stand up, who glared at Bill. "You want to be killed? Why don't you do it yourself!" Then it clicked, Dipper turned to look at the bloody faced teen in dawning understanding. "He can't."

Bill's anger stilled and he stared at them coldly, Dipper pointed at him with a big grin, "Ah-hah! Your stuck in a human body! You can't stand it- you probably can't use your powers like that!" He started laughing his head off, Mabel joining in. 

For months, Dipper had dreaded Bill's return with an unspeakable amount of terror, but now... He was just an angry teenager. Bill exploding, not literally and not metaphorically, the trees behind him became charcoaled, as if a fire had shriveled them but there hadn't been a fire, at least, not a visible one. "Silence! Just shut up!" They went quiet but not before Mabel added in a whisper more to Dipper than to Bill "But he was the one talking." 

"I can kill you right here, you both know that, right?" Dipper was feeling confident, and stuck his chest up "Then do it, you wanted revenge, right?" Bill bit his lip, thinking something over before shaking it off with a manic laugh. "Oh my gods! Your faces... Alright, whatever. Fine! Good! I didn't really want to get my hands drench, but you made me." He punched Dipper in the stomach and yanked Mabel's hair "Ow! Ow! Hair! Hair!" He laughed, looking to Dipper doubled over "Hey Pinetree, make sure to watch as I kill your sister in front of you!" He was about to stab her but tossed her to the side as if she had burned him, he screamed in frustration and was about to say something to Dipper when a phone started ringing... It rung and it rung, then finally Bill sighed shakily with anger and pulled out a phone "Yeah? ... Uh-huh... I'm kind of in the middle of somethin- FINE!" He hung up and threw the phone against a nearby tree with a groaned and rubbed his forehead "This was really fun, we should do it again. See you on the flip side."   
"...He's just... Going to walk away?" Mabel was laying on her back looking up at the tree tops before suddenly sitting up "Ew! He pushed me into the sap. Ah! It's in my hair, Dipper help!" But Dipper wasn't paying attention to her; he was watching Bill Cipher walking away, whistling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Meh, heh heh... I love writing for Mabel, she's the best. Of course, she's not my favorite though, but she's a close... 5th? Anywho~ how did you like it? Tell me below!


	6. High Levels of Weirdness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so the story continues... The chapters are fairly short right now but there will be longer ones in the near future! Anyways~ enjoy!

"We aren't lying!" Ford turned from his operating table to give Dipper and Mabel a serious look, before going back to the slimy mermaid corpse laid out before him. Mabel was watching in horror as he dissected it, cut open the stomach, and jammed gloved hands into green guts. She had to cover her mouth in order not to puke.  
"It's impossible, he was erased in Stanley's mind when we used McGucket's memory erasing device." "But don't you think it's weird, uncle Ford? Why can Stan remember almost everything now? What if Bill did something at the last second that saved he and Stan?" Ford set down his surgical knife and turned fully to the both of them as they sat on the couch. He had brought it down there for Stanley to sleep on, whereas his bed laid on the other side of the room behind a vault door. It wasn't much, but the two of them only lived there during the summers.

"Do you know what your suggesting? Dipper, if this boy is as weak as you say, he couldn't possibly be Bill. Bill- as much as I've been able to observe- is a creature from the fifty-second dimension, who's power over our dimension is only comprehensible to us as being equal to that of dark matter in our outer space. If he wanted revenge, I dare say he would have killed you the first time." "But that's just it! He can't for whatever reason. He's already tried twice! I think he's stuck or something and can barely use his powers."  
There was a loud burp as Stan entered the room, closing Stanford's bedroom door behind him and plopped down between his great niece and nephew in his underwear "What're we talking about?" Ford looked him over and rolled his eyes "I was explaining to the kids that the boy they confronted in the woods today was not Bill Cipher." Stan glared at Dipper "What did I tell you? And now you put your sister in danger as well as yourself, again!" 

Dipper groaned loudly and pulled at his hair in frustration, "For the last fucking time! He wasn't molesting me!" The room fell silent and Ford's mouth hung open in shock before shifting an accusing glance at Stanley... The silence was broken only when Mabel leaned over the side of the couch and vomited what looked an entire bag of Skittles and glitter. Dipper gagged and got off the couch and Stanley groaned "Are you sick or something?" She wiped her mouth "No, but everything I ever believed in is being dissected by Grunkle Ford!" 

Dipper looked over his shoulder as he felt Ford grip his shoulder. His face was still and his eyes fixed on Stanley with anger "Stanley, clean that up, would you. Dipper and I are going to pay a visit to this 'Jim's' house." Stanley glared "Me!? Why don't you do it? Your experiment was the reason she ralphed a unicorn on the floor!" But Stanford and Dipper were already heading up stairs.

"You believe me?" Dipper asked as they made their way into town, Ford looked to Dipper "I'd rather believe that it is Bill than having to explain to your parents that we let you and your sister get hurt by a psychotic teenager!" He held up an odd machine that looked like a modified price scanner. "This machine can detect high levels of multidimensional beings... I built it when I was trapped in Bill's dimension. If this boy really is Bill, this will tell us" 

They wandered down the streets in an awkward silence brought on by the more serious sort of conversation. Dipper tried to think of something to talk about, something less awkward, something that Ford wouldn't shut down immediately as being too 'intellectually unsatisfying.' But, as he opened his mouth to bring up his anomaly findings from back in California, the modified scanner began to emmet a crackling sound much like a metal detector. 

"I'm detecting a high level of weirdness in..." He turned slightly, watching the small screen and pointing it toward the more residential area of Gravity Falls, "That direction." Ford carried on his marching, with Dipper a few steps behind him, until the crackling grew louder. Eventually, it held out a single, annoying, screeching pitch at the front door to a condensed tree story house. Light blue paint with white trim and pink rose bushes gave off an uncanny feeling of normalcy being devoured by a terminal cancer.

Remaining a gentlemen, even in the face of evil slinking behind the wood barrier, Stanford knocked on the door, three quick raps on the freshly painted oak. A female voice could be heard "Jimmy, can you answer the door? My hands are full." A voice called back "Yeah, Yeah!" The door slid open to a sly looking human Bill Cipher. Leaning on the door frame, he looked the two Pines up and down "You brought Fordzy to beat me up? Whatever shall I do?" He mocked, looking past Ford and his scanner that was pointed straight at his face to peer at Dipper amused.

"My god... You really are-" quickly overcoming his initial shock, he grabbed hold of the teen's shirt and yanked him from the doorway. "Whoa, whoa, Fordzy! My mom is baking me cookies, can't this wait?" But he wasn't listening, his hands closed around his head. He was going to snap his neck, Dipper jumped into the equation, waving his hands wildly in hopes to rouse his great uncle from the pure and utter rage that had come from seeing his arch nemesis again. He had thought Bill to be gone forever, and now, he was smiling broadly at him- in an altered appearance, but just as crooked.

"Great uncle Ford! Stop! You'll only give him what he wants!" For a long moment, the three of them stood on the quaint porch in a tense silence, then Ford shoved Bill back with a angry smile. "Thank you, Dipper." Bill frowned, "So, what? NONE of you Pines can grow a spine!? You two came to get a little angry on my doorstep before skipping away holding hands? C'mon, my neck is so breakable! Just grab it and yank as hard as you can!" But the scientist wasn't listening, he was making his way up the street with a clear conscious. Dipper chanced a look back. He saw Bill watching after them with almost a desperate expression. It made Dipper feel sympathetic for his former enemy... If only for a moment before he remembered all he had done. That justified his denial of death to the dimensional demon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a strange predicament indeed. Bill seems to be the only one that know and doesn't look ready to give up any information. But with the backing of Ford, maybe the two will be able to crack the code? You'll have to wait to find out! 
> 
> Comments are lovely~ they motivate me to write more even if they just say something short! So tell me what you think of the story so far below!


	7. No Rest For The Restless

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Had a bit or writes block on this one, but I managed to power through it! Enjoy~

It was unsettling; laying in his bed in the Mystery Shack, staring at the ceiling above as if it would mutate into Bill if he looked away. He wasn't scared, at least, not as much as he had been a few days prior... But he should've been scared, right? What if he was fooling them into thinking that he was weak while he was really cooking up something even worse than he had with Weirdmageddon?  
Grunkle Ford had told him that he would analyze the scan he took of Bill and would determine what kind of things he was capable of in this state. And yet, Dipper found himself bothered. So much so that he could not find it in himself to sleep when the very idea of sleep drew him back to thoughts of Bill.

He sat up from his bed, glaring at the pink attic. His gaze landed on Mable and softened a bit, but a hint of jealousy pinged in his chest. Mable was the same; nothing was ever enough to break her completely. He found that- if anything- hardships only gave way to a brighter, more happy Mable. Meanwhile, he was left skimming the past; trying gather what was left of his innocence of the universe. His personality had been shot. He found he was an uncontrollable, selfish person that brought Mable down in his spiral of doom and gloom because he wanted her to make him feel better, to cheer him up when he was sad, and be there when he was lonely.

Mable didn't deserve to be treated that way. And, during his self pity party in the dark, Dipper decided that he would defiantly not get in the way of her summer this year. No. He would take care of this Bill thing so she wouldn't have to worry. For the first time in awhile, he felt like he was taking care of his sister rather than her taking care of him.

Picking up his phone and slipping on his shoes quietly, he snuck downstairs. From Grunkle Ford's old room, he could hear Soos snoring louder than a chainsaw. Other than that, the shack seemed to be completely quiet. He crept out the front door and looked to the blackened woods. No doubt that there would be dangerous other worldly creatures lurking in the shadows. So he sat on the porch with his head in his hands. If only he could sleep; the weather was so nice. A soft, warm wind ruffled his bedridden hair further and he sighed, if not in exhaustion, then in irritation.

"Thinking of me again?" Dipper, surprisingly, did not jump at the somewhat familiar voice. With a glare, he turned his head to look at the shadowed figure who was sitting on the railing of the porch. "Yes, actually." 'Jim' laughed and slid off the railing to stand in the moonlight alongside Dipper who scooted a few feet away from him. "Oh~ You find this meat suit attractive? If I could, I'd let you try it on, kid. Walking barefoot is like stepping in a bag of rotting meat; it's great!" He raised his barefoot for Dipper to see, who scrunched up his nose and pushed it away from his face.  
"I don't- don't think you're 'attractive'! What the hell, man- I like GIRLS. I'm not..." He trailed off and looked away as Bill's grin grew wider and he felt his face heating up in embarrassment. He groaned, throwing his head back before looking up to Bill "What do you want, anyway? Did you come to punch me again?" "It almost sounds like you're looking forward to another round..." "Please. I'm not a freak like you; I don't WANT to get hurt." There was silence for a moment and Dipper inwardly cheered, wishing only that the other would leave to complete his wish. And then Bill said in a very mysterious voice; sounding almost as if he was trying to read a book and keep up with a conversation. "Or, are you..."

Dipper stood then, no longer comfortable with being lower than Bill, but finding the latter was decisively taller than he was. He compensated by puffing up his chest. "Ah, yeah... Okay no. Leave." There was no complaining on Bill's part, he shrugged and leaped off the porch. "Squish!" Huh? Dipper glared at him as the other teen started to walk away. As he grew smaller on the pathway that lead into town and away from the Mystery Shack, one of Dipper's eyebrows raised in a disturbingly curious way. He asked the night around him, "Did he... Make a sound affect for himself jumping...?" Disturbingly curious. Because he had almost thought that it had been funny.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Squish, indeed.


	8. Rise with The Sun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter got rewritten at least four times before I was content with it. Sometimes it's so hard to write for a 'certain multidimensional being'. Hope this doesn't come out OOC. Anywho~ enjoy!

The brief in counter with Bill on the porch faded as if it had been dream. The boy named 'Jim' wasn't seen for four days. In those four days, Stanford managed to analyze the scan, but he was still unsure of it's validity. Dipper had given up theorizing 'til one in the morning after the second day. What the two of them had concluded, so far, was that the teen was in fact Bill Cipher, not a host of his. This meant that Bill Cipher had been reincarnated... In the past. Sixteen years ago, a human Bill Cipher was born into the third dimension, living out a child's life, waiting to take revenge for something that had yet happened. The idea of it all made the hair on Dipper's arms stand on end.

Hitting a road block in the investigation, Dipper opted to hang out with Wendy and her friends. Sure, it had ended in them running from deputy Blubs after being caught getting free games at the arcade by tying a string through a whole in a coin and pulling it back out, but Dipper had had fun and ALMOST forgot about the lurking danger.

It was another beautiful day; the sun was bound to be hot. His face was held in a pretentious smile, an accessory to the smile was his optimistic view of the day. Yes, he stood in his pajamas with his hands on his hips and he stared out the window of the pink bedroom. He had promised Mabel he wouldn't wake her up early that day. Too much sugar fueled excitement from hanging out with her friends late the night before had left her with a stomach ache. He glanced over to her briefly as he stretched and smiled, glad to see that she was having fun. 

He quietly made his way downstairs, after getting dressed, and was surprised to find Melody already up. What was it again? Five in the morning? She looked up from her phone and smiled at him, "'morning, Dipper." "Why are you up so early?" She shrugged with a sigh "Morning sickness." Oh... Okay. For some strange reason, the topic of pregnancy made him uncomfortable. She seemed to sense his discomfort and changed the subject "There was a boy here last night asking about you." It was as if he forgot something important to survival and he had suddenly regained it. 

"What did he ask about?" Dipper tried to calm himself; even he could hear the almost desperate sound in his voice. He coughed into his hand and tried more smoothly in a more manly sounding tone, "Um, what exactly did he say?" She waved his strange reaction off with the bat of her hand and answered causally. "He wanted to know if you were here, but you were off with Wendy so I told him no. He asked if I could tell you that he stopped by. He was kinda old-timey-gentleman-ly, and cute." He bit his lip harshly, contemplating going to Ford. But what would he do? He couldn't do anything until he figured out what Bill was up to.

"Did Stan or Ford see him here...?" She shook her head and smiled kindly at him. "Listen, those two don't have to know if you don't want them to." Dipper watched her warily and said slowly, "Okay... Thanks." He wasn't really sure why she was giving him that weird look, but it looked to be a gentle, understanding look and he was grateful to see it. "Well, I'll just go... Meet up with him, I guess." She nodded and gave him a thumbs up, which he returned awkwardly, backing out of the kitchen, and accidentally ramming his shoulder into the door frame. He rubbed at it before continuing out of the room.

He chalked it up to being an odd conversation. Did Melody actually have any idea what he was talking about? Probably not. That begged the question: What was she talking about? The sun was already above the tree line and it's beams seemed like death rays to his skin. As such was summer. Maybe, when Mabel and the others woke up, they could go to the pool. Pondering this as he walked the dirt road into town, he was vaguely aware of the whistling of the birds in the trees above; how their solemn songs were not at all welcomings of a bright new day, but of a funeral, yet to be held. His mind was crawling with thoughts; questions he knew he would only receive the answers to by the lips of Bill Cipher. 

"Speak of the devil..." He mumbled under his breath as a figure appeared, standing at the end of the sidewalk. God, he was creepy. Was he staring? Taking a deep breath, he braced himself for whatever weird thing Bill was about to say or do.

"Up with the sun." His voice sounded dreary, it made Dipper stop in his approach and take a better look at the teen. He was wearing the same black jeans and tan sweater vest over a wrinkled white button down as he had been the night he had come to him on the porch. Though, shoes were now presently on his feet... To admit the truth to himself, Dipper thought he looked like a normal teen- maybe one from a family richer than his, but less than the Northwests- but a normal teen nonetheless. It was weird, but Bill was not looking at him. He was looking up to the 'Poopsie-Whoopsie Diaper' billboard that was one of the first objects to catch the sunlight.

After a long moment, Bill turned to him with a mischievous grin "They say if you rise with the sun, you fall with it, too." "You're up with the sun, too." Dipper pointed out as the other turned from him and started down the empty sidewalk. He hesitated to follow but pushed away fear and soon fell into step with him. "Did I wake up with the sun?" That smile... It had his worried lip enduring more biting as a way to hide fear and muster up courage to look into those cold, yellow eyes that bulged with red veins along their films.

His eyes narrowed on the other as suspicion began to form. "You didn't sleep... What were you doing all night?" Bill opened his mouth to reply but Dipper shook his head "Never mind! I do NOT want to know." That statement had 'Jim' laughing "You just contradicted your whole species, kid. Humans want to know everything I do, I am; their object source for enlightenment to their existence, is me." He pushed Dipper against the side of the store they were passing and lifted his chin up to meet his eyes and growing grin. "You want to know something.

The question is smudged in the blood on your lips. Probably something about me, right?" He went to rub the blood away with his thumb, but Dipper kicked him in the shin and pushed him away to wiped at the self inflicted wound on his lip. "Yeah, okay, I DO want to know something- Why are you stalking me!?" They were as quiet as the road remained for that moment... But the silence was broken as Lazy Susan came walking up the road with one of her feral cats on a leash "Hi!" Dipper waved awkwardly as she passed and Bill laughed.

"Because its fun."

"Because what's fun?" "Stalking you! All you Pines react in a rainbow of ways to my presence. Stan is bothered by me, but he's too lazy to care enough to do anything about it, Fordzy likes to get down to the nitty gritty and kill me, your sister- I have no idea what dimension she lives in, but it's not this one. I mean, have you read her diary?" He read Mabel's diary? How? When!? Did that mean he had snuck into their house? Again, Dipper wanted to burn the very idea from his mind; he didn't want to know.

"But you; you practically pee yourself in fear every time! It's priceless.~" He trailed off towards the end as his laughing became priority and Dipper blushed in anger and embarrassment. "I'm not scared of you anymore! You can't do anything to me! You're wea-" "That's funny, kid. But even in this form you can't match up to me. I'm taller than you, smarter than you, and I can smash your nose into your brain." His voice was dropping from its sarcastic tone to a darker deeper voice.

Dipper didn't waver, holding his ground, he shrugged and met Bill's eyes challengingly "Prove it." It was bold and the moment he said it, his gut clenched as if yelling at him 'you idiot!' He didn't let this show, of course, and watched as the other teen looked him up and down. His grin was returning and yet another string of laughter left him. "Great! Now that is inter-esting!" He suddenly shoved his hand in his pants pocket and threw it's contents at Dipper's face, who blocked a bit too late. 

Spinning a bit, Bill tipped his nonexistent top hat to Dipper and turned from him. "See ya later, Pinetree!" It was confusing. Dipper looked from the retreating figure to the floor where the dead Beatles laid after bouncing off of his face. "What the heck just happened...?" Did he win? He liked to believe that he did, but the whole exchange had been so odd. He was less than sure that either of them had 'won'.

He rubbed at his bottom lip, but stopped himself from messing with the irritated skin anymore than he already had. He would head toward the Shack and be back by the time that Ford would be prodding Stan awake and everyone else would start to wonder where he had gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dipper bit his lip hard enough to bleed because meeting Bill's eyes scared him... To walk along side a creature that once tried to kill you and everyone you loved. Dipper is crazy. -w-
> 
> (And Bill is insane... Perfect!)


	9. Another MRXUQDO

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello~ so I am 99% positive that the rating will go up... Not within the next couple of chapters, more like... Chapter 20-30. That is only a production and not actual fact so don't quote me on in... Also because when I promise things will happen in upcoming chapters, they usually don't because I forget what I said.
> 
> Enjoy~

"It's nothing." "It's totally something~" "No, it's not." Mabel rolled over on Stan's chair and looked to where her twin brother sat at the kitchen table. Dipper was shuffling a deck of cards absentmindedly, perhaps just to be doing something so he'd have a reason not to add much to their conversation.

"Oh c'mon, Dipper! When I asked you where you had been this morning, you were like 'Uh, uh, nowhere!'" Her mimic of his voice made him sound stupid and was followed up by a raspberry. He watched her with an unimpressed expression. "I was... Nowhere, really. Just taking a walk and stuff, okay?" She gasped and pushed herself up on the arm of the chair. "'And stuff'! You're hiding something!" Her smile fell and her look became concerned. "You weren't chasing after Bill, were you?" 

"I-I'm not chasing after him! He's been following me!" She rolled her eyes and picked up Waddles, poking his nose before saying to Dipper, "He was kinda cute... You know, as a human." It was a horrible nightmare. Dipper stared at his sister in horror. She looked back over to him with a sly smile. "What do you think?"  
"Haha. I'm not into guys, Mabel. Stop trying to say that I am. And out of all people, don't suggest that I think Bill Cipher is 'cute'. He's a monster, remember?" "Jeez, don't be such a grumpy-grump!" Climbing off of the chair, Mabel carried Waddles with her out of the room, saying to the pig, "Come on Waddles, Dipper is dealing with emotional issues." 

He glared after her and left the shuffled cards on the table just as Grunkle Stan entered the kitchen. He looked to Dipper and groaned as he made his way to the fridge "Gross. You got your angst all over the table." Dipper stood with a deep frown and pounded his hands on the table, "I am not angsty!" He stomped out of the kitchen, his anger and frustration only growing as he heard Stan laughing in his wake.

He made it to the porch and took a long, shaky breath to calm himself. Mabel was chasing Waddles around the front area of the Mystery Shack, laughing her head off as the pig held a sword in his mouth. Not the safest, but she looked like she could handle it... At least for the time being. He shouldn't have let Mabel and Stan's teasing get to him. They were just messing with him because he gives them the satisfaction of a reaction. Damn, he wished he could learn how not to react.

After a moment of reflection, Dipper went back inside. He headed for Stanford's lab through the vending machine, but not before waving to Soos, who was directing people around the shack in the footsteps of Stan. His great uncle was taking off a pair of rubber gloves when he reached the lab, but hadn't turned around when he had entered. "Don't ask about it again. I'll take a break when I'm finished." 

Dipper halted in his tracks, he wasn't entirely sure what his uncle was going on about, but he noticed that he stood more like Stan (in that hunched over sort of way of his) and his voice was groggy as if he had just woken up from a nap. One look at his desk, however, disproved that notion by the amount of coffee cups mounted on it's surface.

"Uncle Ford?" The other paused the polishing of his glasses on his lab coat and turned around to Dipper with surprise dawning on his face. "Dipper? I thought for sure you were Stanley." There was a pause in which he set his glasses back in place atop the bridge of his nose before he asked, "Why are you dragging your feet? What's wrong?" Where to start? Dipper rubbed at the back of his neck with a sigh of relief. Relief because, If anyone, Stanford would understand his worries and concerns. 

"I don't know... It's just, Bill keeps on appearing wherever I go. What should I do?" The older of the two hummed in thought. His face drew in an exhausted frown then, suddenly, broke into a smile. "Well, what do you usually do when he appears?" Dipper shrugged "I talk to him, I guess, but-" "Then that's what you need to do! As we understand now, Bill has been reborn as a human. Dipper, what is one crucial difference between him during Weirdmageddon to now?" 

"... He has two eyes?" Ford sighed, his last bit of energy dwindled, and his smile fell. "He has a heart and a soul. He may start to see you as a friend, if you're nice to him." Dipper stared in incredulous shock with a hint of concern as he noticed his great uncle was slumping more heavily against his desk. "Are you serious? But he tried to kill us!" "Just give it a try. Here; document his behaviors and anything that may be a clue to the rules of his reincarnation. There's always rules." 

'If this helps out uncle Ford...' He thought and hesitantly took the notebook that Ford held in his outstretched hand. When he looked over it's blank, black, leather cover, he felt a hint of excitement stir in his stomach. Uncle Ford had given him this book to record strange things and unravel the mystery of the return of Bill Cipher. Ford walked over to the couch and laid out on it with a groan. "Are you okay, uncle Ford?" He gave a smile as he closed his eyes after carefully setting his glasses on the filing cabinet nearby. "My body can't stay up as long as my mind can these days..."

He was already snoring. Dipper watched in a sort of amazement. He was faking it, right? He wandered over to the couch and looked over his great uncle's sleeping figure. 

"What're you doing?" Dipper jumped back a little and turned to see Stan entering the room. In his arms, he carried a case of Pit Soda, a bag of chips, and a cup of coffee. "I was just seeing if he was really asleep. I mean, he was literally just talking to me." Stan dropped the chips and soda on the surgical table and carefully sat the coffee mug on Stanford's desk before joining Dipper by the couch.

"What an idiot. He's been up for days doing 'science-y stuff.' I'm tellin' ya; you can't live on coffee." He was looking Ford over with an expression- Dipper couldn't distinguish what it was- but it held a hint of sadness. Stan turned to Dipper, completely serious as he popped open a can of Pit soda. "But you can live on soda. Trust me." And with that, he took a loud slurp from the can.

Dipper stared at the blank cover of the leather notebook. He would do what his great uncle Ford suggested. But he wondered if he could actually be nice to Bill. Well, he would try. Pulling his eyes from the book for the first time in an hour, he looked to Mabel who was laid out on the floor of their room flipping through a magazine and cutting out the heads of the people she thought were 'exceptionally good looking.' She had claimed that she was going to glue them together, thus, creating 'the most attractive person in the world!' 

"Mabel, can I borrow your gold marker for a second?" "Sure!" She tossed it up onto his bed and he took it up, drawing the constellation of The Big Dipper on the front of the notebook. This book was his, and, as he sat there on his bed looking over the cover, he felt anticipation and worry fill his chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm just saying, Stan's words are the ultimate truth of life.
> 
> Chapter 10: Reaction Perception
> 
> (Coming soon!)


	10. Reaction Perception

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello~ we have now reached a double digit chapter! Enjoy~!

It wasn't as though he had to look too hard for Bill. He was actually hoping that he wouldn't run into him for a couple of days. But, as fate would have it, 'Jim' just so happened to be sitting on the base of the Nathan Northwest statue as Dipper and Mabel passed it on their way. They were headed to a grave, deep in the woods, that was rumored to have alien script. 

"Hello~ Pine twins number five." Mabel pointed at him with a gasp, trying to make Dipper look over and acknowledge Bill, but he refused to look in the direction of the sculpture. Mabel took matters into her hands and dragged Dipper over. Right. Okay. Dipper tried to smile at the dirt-covered teen. "Hey, Bill... So, uh... How are things?" Oh god, that had sounded awful. Both Mabel and Bill stared at him. Bill threw his head back in a laugh, breaking the eye contact, while Mabel narrowed her eyes at her brother, most likely trying to figure out what he had going on in his head.

"What was THAT?" Bill gasped at the end of long laugh. Dipper looked away in embarrassment, "Fine! Don't answer. I didn't really even care." The blonde rolled his eyes and poked him roughly on the shoulder. Dipper cringed at the dirt being rubbed off on him. "Obviously. But your embarrassment is hilarious! I'm laughing because its funny." Mabel smiled cheekily at the exchange, "Oh my gosh, you guys are-" Dipper covered her mouth but quickly pulled it back as she tried to lick him "Mabel!- A-anyway... Um, why are you covered in dirt?  
"   
Oh that sly smile. It appeared across the wan face of the creature trapped inside a human body as he pointed his nose up in an action that the twins had seen displayed by Pacifica Northwest. "Wouldn't you like to know.~" He followed up his ominous reply with a wink. Dipper glanced sidelong to Mabel, who was looking back at him with the same thoughts expressed on her face. They both turned back to Bill. Dipper was the one to state their thoughts out loud. "Uh, yeah... That's kinda why I asked." 

"I was digging." "Digging? Why...?" Dipper was starting to think that this conversation would lead to a revolting conclusion. "Wouldn't you like to know!~" Now it was irritation seizing up Dipper's nerves, but he wouldn't let Bill get the best of him. So, as calmly as he could, he answered again. "Yes, yes I would." 

Bill's smile reached beyond his hairline, it seemed. Upon the answer given, he leaned down to a sack that neither of the Pines had noticed. He then pulled out a rotted deer head, raggedly ripped from it's body, and gave it a good shake as he explained to the disturbed teens with the utmost glee. "I was digging for this guy. Some man-sized squirrel was stock pilling them for winter."  
Then he turned his eyes on Dipper "It's no screaming head, but it's better than those dolls you use to play with." He tossed it to Dipper, who jumped away with a voice cracking scream. He thought for sure he was over the voice cracking stage, dang it! The deer head made a disgusting splattering noise as it hit the ground and the smell it emitted made both of the twins' eyes water up along with the few people who walked by, gagging.

"Those were action figures! You- oh my god, you know what?" He grabbed hold of Mabel's arm and pulled both of them several feet away from the head. It was not a good sign that she was covering her face in her sweater... He wouldn't doubt it if Mabel stayed like that the rest of the day.

"I can't believe I actually tried to be nice to you! Just leave us alone already!" And with that, he left with his sister.

"Is it gone?" She peeked one eye out from her sweater and he sighed from his place atop a tree stump. "Yeah." She looked around the clearing in the woods he had taken them to and caught sight of him staring down into the empty pages of his notebook. His pen hovered over the top of the first page, but he looked lost in thought. Mabel scooted up to Dipper on her knees and looked down at the pages before turning her eyes up to his face. It was clouded with a frustrated expression. 

"What's the matter, bro bro?" "It's just... Grunkle Ford told me to try to be nice to Bill so that I could document his behaviors. He said that it would help him in his research... But you've seen how Bill is; human or not, he hasn't changed at all." She listened honestly and, when he had finished, she offered him a small smile. "You know how I always tease you? That's kinda what he's doing too- but with a lot more blood and gross stuff. If you don't react, he'll eventually get tired of trying to get a reaction." Dipper sat there for a long moment, thinking this concept over before a smile set in.

"Mabel, you're a genius!" She grinned and laughed out a response. "I know, right? GENIUS!" "Well, you probably got smarter from hanging out with me, though..." She shoved him with accusing shock etched into her face. "Nuh-uh!" 

Laughing, they both stood. When the fit had subsided, Dipper announced confidently, "Now. Let's go find that alien grave!" "Pah-chu-chu!" Mabel responded, following after him with her invisible alien laser gun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmmm.... To ignore Bill's weirdness. That may be a lot harder than Dipper thinks.
> 
> Anyway! Comments are nice~ I like 'em a lot. And I hope you look forward to the next chapter!


	11. Pioneer Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello~ this chapter was by the easiest to write and some interesting things are to happen. At least, I think so. Enjoy!

The sun was lax on it's beating and the day was cool; dramatically so from it's seniors. Dipper was laid out on his bed, his head titled back over the edge, so that he could stare at his notebook on the nightstand from a different perspective. Quite literally. He was going to do it. This time, he wouldn't let Bill break his nerves.

He got up from the bed and grabbed the book on his way to the door. At the bottom of the stairs, Soos caught him coming down and backtracked from heading into the living room. Dipper took noticed to the plate of nachos in his hand "Dude, they have a new show that's got the duck from Duck-tective. It's called 'Ducks 'n Trucks' But like, it's funny because he's a criminal on the run and that's the total opposite of his role in Duck-tective, you know?" 

Grimacing, he gave his friend an apologetic look. "Sorry, Soos. I was actually on my way out." Soos raised a hand in a silencing motion. "Say no more. I recorded like, fifty episodes so we can watch them anytime." Dipper now reached the bottom of the stairs, after the brief hesitation had passed, and his friend's words set in. "You're the best- See you later!" He started to the door, but turned and gave his friend one last smile who simply replied with, "Peace."

In town, he was surprised at first to see horses and buggies roaming the streets, but only for a moment before he realized that it was Pioneer Day. It always seemed to surprise him when it showed up every summer... Was it even consistently on the same day? He was beginning to wonder.

He took this opportunity to enjoy the sight of the strange traditions of Gravity Falls being brought to the light of day once more. The Northwests waved, customarily stiff and formal, accompanied by blinding, unnaturally white teeth broadcasted to the cheering crowd. Mayor Tyler took the stage in front of them, waving with both hands and began with, "We're all in the Pioneer Day spirit, aren't we~?" The crowd cheered louder and he quieted them down. "Just to make sure, let's all do some Pioneer stretches!"

Dipper had walked away from the crowd with a smile. He took one more glance behind him and chuckled as everyone in the crowd started doing the Downward Dog position. Many were failing horribly and falling over- Dipper could have sworn Toby Determined's pants split. What he did not expect was the collision of flesh against flesh. "Ow!- Oh, s-sorry! I wasn't..." He trailed off when his head turned forward and met with Bill's grinning face. Did he have any other expression beside insanely happy and insanely mad? "...looking. Uh, hi there."

Bill had changed his outfit from the last time Dipper had seen him. No longer did the shambles of rich kid clothes hang from his skinny broad chest. In their place, was a clean, white button down, a black trench coat, black dress pants, and tuxedo shoes. Dipper raised an eyebrow at the other when his eyes drifted back to Bill's.

"Like what you see, kid~?" "Yeah- I mean, no! Why are you, out of all people, dressing up for Pioneer Day?" Bill rolled his eyes. "Please. This is not a hillbilly getup! I always dress like this." As an after thought he added, "This version of me, anyway." 

The both of them looked over as Mabel screamed, "Hey! Hey!" But the screams were not directed to them. They were for Pacifica as she descended the stairs from the stage. An obvious smile started to form on Pacifica's face but it was quickly replaced with feigned annoyance.

It was weird, Dipper thought, that he actually felt relieved that his sister hadn't come to meet them. His thoughts were cut off, however, when he became aware of Bill's arm hanging over his shoulder. "What're you, uh... Doing?" "Touching you." Dipper shrugged the arm off and turned back to the perpetrator of his discomfort. "Well, stop. It's weird." 

"I'M weird, Pinetree." Dipper bit his lip to stop himself from saying 'Then stop being you.' But he remembered why he was there and froze. Bill leaned over, twisting his head, and looking up at his face with amusement. "Does that lip taste that good? I always knew you'd turn to cannibalism, someday." Before Dipper could respond, Bill grabbed hold of his wrist and pulled him to the shadowed side of the nearby Gravity Falls library. He was pushed up against the building, much like a few days prior, and just like before, Bill took hold of Dipper's chin to make him look up to his mischievous grin.

"W-what- what?" It didn't seem like Dipper could manage the full question of 'what are you doing?' as he was stuck on the 'what'. The blonde teen leaned in closer and closer. Way too far into Dipper's personal space bubble. He said, as if absentmindedly, "Let me have a taste." No. Absolutely NOT! He'd already had his first kiss with a merman, he wasn't in the mind to give the second to another male creature. 

He struggled, pushing at the other's chest, and trying to yank his chin from Bill's grip, but it was too late. In a sudden impatience for his own torturously slow pace, Bill closed the gap and... Licked his chin? But he didn't stop there. He raked his cat-like tongue from Dipper's chin, all the way up his cheek, to just under his watering eye. What? They were tears of anger welling up! 

This time, when Dipper shoved him away, he actually managed to separate the two of them (though he had an inkling that Bill had let himself be shoved). He scrunched up his nose in disgust as Bill held out his tongue, showing off the blood he had collected from the lip cut that Dipper had opened up again. But when he felt the trail of spit on his face, wiping that off became more important than punching or kicking the other. 

"Arg!" Rubbing it off with his hands just transferred it to more of his skin. Regrettably, he had to wipe it on his shirt. Bill finally pulled his tongue back and looked up to the sky in thought as he smacked him lips together. "Tangy!" His gaze shifted to Dipper's flustered, red face with a sly smile, "My favorite. It pairs well with blue cheese, if you ever move from cannibalism to blood drinking, kid." 

Oh, Dipper had so many things he wanted to say- yell at him, but Mabel's words from the day before came back to him: 'If you don't react, he'll eventually get tired of trying to get a reaction.' Right. Taking a deep breath, Dipper started, "So what's the deal?" He cleared he throat and tried again as the first try sounded gruff, "So what's the deal with your parents? Do they know what you really are? Or are you, like... A different person around them?"

A gun went off nearby as the running of the pigs event started, but neither of them flinched. Bill's smile dropped off the face of the earth as he took in Dipper's words, and then it was back as if it had never left. "You surprised me, so I'll spoil you a little- Shush, its our little secret~!" He laughed as he started toward the front of the building. Dipper hesitated, but followed after him after a moment.

They walked down the sidewalk, side by side. McGucket ran by them on the road covered in mud and hootin' 'n hallarin' as a mob of pigs and other people (including Mabel) ran in his wake. 

"I live with a lady named Georgina Waters. Her vagina was a horrible place to wake up in and I'll certainly never want to visit it again. She named me James Richard Waters." Dipper cringed at his crudeness, but got over it as curious information was being freely given to him- from Bill Cipher nonetheless!

"I need a parent to be 'human,' but no one ever said I needed two. So, I told Mr. Waters all about his boring, meaningless life and how it would end when I was five. That got rid of him the moment he called me a demon in front of the old ball and chain. She's really a pathetic person; If she says 'no', I say 'but daddy left' and she does whatever I want! Really. One of the worst human slaves I've ever had." 

"You're a horrible person." Dipper stared straight ahead. How he managed to talk so calmly was beyond him. Bill simply shrugged. "Story time's over, kid. Run along to your piggy sister and her freakishly mannish friend, or something." They stopped walking right before the crowd at the finish of the road where contestants and pigs relaxed from the run in a puddle of mud.

He wasn't ready to go, he still had so many questions. If he could just pull them from Bill then- 'Then what?' His mind came up with, but he himself did not know what he would do when he was satisfied with knowing everything about Bill Cipher... Would he ever even reach that point? Bill had only told him something that could have easily been found out with a little research on the Internet. He undoubtedly would never tell Dipper about his other worldly powers, or anything beyond human understanding... Dipper resolved that he would need to get closer, and reach for those unreachable depths.

He didn't say anything as Bill blew him a kiss and walked away, nor did he move on from the exchange. It wasn't until Grenda picked him up from behind and threw him into the mud with Mabel, Candy, and Waddles that he felt reconnected to the world.

Mabel groaned, turning away from the wall to Dipper's side of the room. The lantern burned brightly in the dark room and illuminated her twin, who was writing fiercely in his journal. "Dipper, can't you do that tomorrow morning?" "I have to write it down while it's still fresh in my memory. I'm almost done, just give me a second." "It's already been more than a second!" He clamped the book closed. "There, see? I'm done." She buried herself deeper into her blankets and mumbled, "Get the light." He obeyed and the room was full of inky darkness as they exchanged 'goodnight's.

When his eyes had adjusted to the night, the light of the window became visible and he stared at the ceiling. Dipper touched his lips and found that they were cracked and a forming scab- Ew, it was disgusting. He gave himself a good mental shake, telling himself to stop messing with it. His fingers moved to his cheek and he shivered involuntarily. That exchange had been scaring and would probably be the subject of nightmare soon. Just the thought was making his heart speed up as it had when it had happened. That tongue- No, no. He wouldn't think about it.

He squeezed his eyes together in hopes of snagging some sleep, but it didn't hook... Bill Cipher had figured out a way to invade his mind without his powers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Licks for life. Leave a comment below to tell me what you think of the story so far!


	12. Cinnamon Candy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello~ from here on the chapters will become a bit rougher but bare with me. Enjoy!

He felt like a creep. What he was doing was simply... Well, stalker-ish. Dipper would never admit that out loud, of course. In his mind- ...That was a different story. He sat on the Chiu family's front porch. It just so happened to reside directly across the road from the Waters' house.

The porch floor boards squeaked as Candy appeared alongside where he sat. She sat down on the steps of her house beside him and offered him a bowl of spicy candies which he dug his hand into with a reluctant sigh.  
"How is the investigation going?" 

Taking his eyes off of the house across the street for the first time in an hour from, Dipper offered her an irritated groan. "No one has come in or out of that house in three hours! I'm starting to think he's not even home."

"Why don't you just ring the door bell then?" Dipper laughed nervously, "I can't just 'ring the doorbell' of Bill Cipher! I mean, come on, that's ridiculous." "It's not that hard, Dipper. You just go like this:" she poked an invisible doorbell, "Ding-dong~" 

Huh... When she put it like that, it made it sound so simple. But what would he do if someone answered? He would do what he had come to do; collect data on Bill. 

"I guess... I'll go do that. Thanks for the candy, Candy. Heh." She giggled and shoved the bowl in his face. "You should take the rest. You obviously like them a lot more than I do." "Really? Are you sure?" She nodded and he let her pour what was left from the small bowl into his cupped hands which he then carefully tucked into his pants pocket. 

Dipper waved back to her as he headed for the street. "Thanks again." She waved back. "No problem. I hope your investigation gives you what you are looking for." He cautiously looked both ways before crossing the street and tossing more of the spicy cinnamon condensed gelatin candies into his mouth.

Well, here it went. The suspiciously spotless porch greeted him at the front door to the three story house. It seemed to him like the house deceptively loomed overhead. He rung the door before his brain could come up with possible outcomes that ended in Dipper never being seen by the living again, and a pleasant ring chimed within the house.

There was nothing. He hoped- hoped to God, that no one would answer, but the 'click' of heels on hardwood floor buried Dipper's wish just like any other he had had in his life.   
"One moment." A silky female voice called through the door before unlatching a lock, then a deadbolt, a chain, two more locks, and a latch. Something in his mind suggested that the locks were installed for keeping 'Jim' at home at night. But he doubted they did much to stop him.  
When the door slid open, a tall, fair skinned, blonde woman in a sundress looked to him in almost shock. She held her chest as a smile revealed her teeth, rival only to the Northwests brightness. "You must be Dipper. Oh, I'm so glad to know that you're a real person!" 

"What...?" She reeled herself in and stepped aside so that he could enter. "Where are my manners? I'm Georgina Waters. Please, come in." Dipper followed her in, closing the door behind him, before taking the house in. It was stereotypical art nouveau. Or a cry of it, in Dipper's opinion. The curtains were drawn together and the cheery, feminine yellows and browns of the room were dampened by the darkness. 

"Wait here; I'll go and tell Jimmy you're here." She went up the nearby wood staircase, and he heard her on the second floor, but lost track of the sound of her heels on the hardwood when she ascended to the third floor.  
Bill had told his mom about him? That was a bit odd. Dipper had thought he never told his mom anything.

He shoved another handful of the candy into his mouth as he leaned over to look closely at the glass lampshade. No dust. No dust on anything at all! Mrs. Waters had even gone so far as having two completely symmetrical bonsai trees on the small end tables that bookended either side of the couch. It was a beautiful room... But frankly? Dipper was scared to sit on or touch anything.

"He told me to tell you to come up to his room. It's the last door on the third story- It has a lot of scratch marks on it, you can't miss it." The lady of the house said, almost sympathetically. Dipper wished he could talk to her about her son. She, out of all humans, would know his behaviors and habits. But Bill had made things more difficult for him by breaking their normal routine, making Dipper come to him instead.

After thanking Mrs. Waters, Dipper took the stairs slowly. He knew, no matter how slowly he took them, he would still reach the third floor. If for some reason he had to get away from Bill, it would be difficult to get back downstairs. 

He was contemplating how badly he'd be hurt after jumping out of a window, when he reached the second floor. Another living room greeted him, but this one was all yellows and greens. "Huh..." Dipper felt a wary feeling creeping into his chest. The new living room was exactly the same as the one on the bottom floor, besides the color combination... And the massive painting of a red triangle on plain, tan canvas hung on the middle wall.

This house was starting to give him a dreadful feeling the higher he climbed. What on earth would Bill's room look like? This was an extremely dangerous mission. If he made it through, he promised himself he would buy pizza on a stick at the local pizzeria because dang it, he was worth it.

The stairs to the third floor led straight to a long, white hall. White doors flanked either side all the way down, ending with a brown door that had a cross pinned to it. Dipper almost started laughing, but thought better of it. It all was a horror movie. He crept down the hall, grimacing as the floor squeaked. Upon getting a closer look at the door, Dipper almost ran away.

Scratches befouled the wood, scorch marks on a bent brass handle, the cross had a circle of scratches around it, indicating that it had been flipped upside down multiple times. This was the doorway into a dimension Dipper never wanted to see. But, damn, his curiosity railed him on to open it anyway.

"This is interesting. I wouldn't necessarily call it a surprise, though." Bill said, but from where? He couldn't tell. The room was dimly lit and it took Dipper's eyes a moment to adjust from the florescent hall to dreary lamplight. When they did, he was surprised- shocked, really, that the room was frightfully boring. Black sheets tucked around the bed, absent of any crease or wrinkle. The only other piece of furniture in the room was a plain wood desk, blocked by a red leather chair which spun around to reveal a grinning Bill Cipher, only for a moment. As soon the chair was spinning away from him, he saw him again... And then he was gone.

"Old habits die hard, eh?" Dipper continued to watch the other spin in the chair and answered Bill with a question of his own "What're you talking about?" "You cried about me stalking you and then sit across from my house for two hours and forty-seven minutes with those big, round eyes of yours all scrunched up." Dipper felt his face heating up and looked away. "I wasn't stalking you." 

Bill stopped spinning and looked Dipper over, amused. "What would you call it, Pinetree?" There was Dipper's chance to defend himself, and he looked back confidently. "I was doing surveillance. I'm making sure you don't hurt anyone." Bill rolled his eyes and patted his lap, "Come here, you have something."  
Not really sure what he meant, Dipper took a step back from him with a glare.

"No." He shrunk, however, when his defiance earned him a deep frown, who's owner stood up. In two long strides, he reached Dipper and grabbed his jaw roughly. He looked over his captive's face completely, ignoring the nails that dug into his arm and the glare of the face he held.

Bill's eyes were locked onto the red lips, unnaturally red lips. "I could break your neck..." He had almost whispered the words, as if it were a thought not meant to really be heard, before he squeezed the jaw tighter. Dipper gasped. He didn't even realize that the candy he had been sucking on was taken from his mouth until Bill suddenly let go of his jaw, grinning, and showing him his prize. It oozed, halfway dissolved, between his fingers... Dipper rubbed at his jaw and watched Bill uncertainly as he sat back down in his chair. He ventured to ask, "Why? Honestly, why? If you wanted some, I have more in my pocket." The other's gold eyes flicked back up to his and a crazed grin broke out on his face as he popped the candy into his mouth. 

How is one suppose to react or respond to that? Dipper just stood there, because he could not, in anyway, understand Bill. Was he doing it to gross him out? Make him uncomfortable? He honestly did not know. 

"Cinnamon... Is disgusting." What. Dipper stared incredulously, but was broken from his confusion when he felt a hand push him down to sit on the bed. He looked around before it dawned on him that it had been Bill's powers. The invisible hand gave his ear a quick tug before it was gone.  
"Well?" Dipper's head snapped back up. He found that Bill was staring at him again. "You came here to learn more about me because I'm deliciously mysterious and evil and you can't resist me. Because your curiosity overpowers your pathetic little body." He stuck out his tongue to show Dipper that he still had the candy before continuing, "Well? What have you learned? Nothing? Everything? ...Something?"

Bill's smile only grew when Dipper didn't answer. He wheeled his chair forward, until he was right in front of Dipper, leaning close to his face. "Or, maybe, you came because you wanted to be an annoying bitch and stare at me with no real reason for coming here." He bit Dipper's nose with an addible 'nawm!' and fell back into his chair, laughing as Dipper rubbed at his nose.

"No, no! You came here because you wanted to see me! I'm flattered, kid!" The room fell silent, besides the sound of a clock ticking (which seemed a bit odd to Dipper because there was no clock visible in the room). He raised an eyebrow at Bill and involuntarily smiled outwardly at his triumph in lasting through the insanity Bill had just displayed without reacting.

"Are you... done, now?" The blonde shrugged, throwing his legs up on Dipper's lap, who sighed and ignored the legs, taking instead, interest in Bill's face. It looked colder than ever. "Tell me why you can't hurt anybody. Is that the reason that you tried to get someone to kill you?" 

"You're all three. An annoying bitch who wanted to see me so you could learn about me. Jeez, Pinetree. One or the other." When Dipper didn't say anything, Bill glared and pulled Dipper's face closer, his smile beginning to creep up again. "I don't share secrets with little boys who don't give me something in return."   
Dipper's flat expression faltered when Bill's eyes fell on his lips once again. It completely broke away when Bill's nails dug into the back of his head and yanked Dipper's face to his.   
"IdontwanttoknowIdontwanttoknow!" Dipper shouted frantically, but it was warped by Bill's other hand prying his mouth open, wide. Oh god. Dipper had known this was a bad idea! Why did he think that he had any power over Bill Cipher?

The grinning mouth reached his forced-open one and he slammed the image out by squeezing his eyes closed. Dipper felt the tongue in his mouth, it's saliva falling into his, and the heat it seemed to radiate... But it did not touch anything and, as soon as he had thought he would feel the tongue and maybe some teeth and lips, Bill pulled away from him completely, pushing his chair away from the bed. Spinning and spinning and spinning.

Very, very slowly, Dipper opened his eyes and closed his gaping mouth. Bill was watching him with a satisfied grin, his legs crossed and his head titled slightly as he rested his chin in the palm of his hand. "Now I don't owe you anything." 

A bit hazy and shaken, Dipper eloquently asked, "...Huh?" "I gave you back your disgusting candy, so I don't have to tell you anything." It took a moment. Dipper looked back and forth from Bill to the wall several times before he finally noticed the almost entirely disintegrated bit of sugary lump in a corner of his mouth and realized the meaning of the words being spoken to him. 

"Oh my god..." He spat the 'evil' candy into his hand and even then his mouth felt weird. He needed to brush his teeth and gurgle some holy water or something- He needed to leave.  
"Oh, and don't pretend you're tough and not scared of me. It really angers me. And the more you make me angry..." He licked his lips clean of the remaining cinnamon taste, his voice growing inhumanly low, "The harder I'll push."

Dipper got up and, as his last defiance, wiped the liquid shared candy on the white wall before hurrying out of the room. He ran into Mrs. Waters on the second set of stairs that would lead him to the bottom floor. She was carrying a tray of brownies, presumably for Dipper and 'Jimmy'. "Dipper? You look upset. What did he do?" She tried to stop him, but he hurried passed her and straight for the front door. He struggled with the numerous locks but managed to free himself of the disturbingly clean house with the slam of the door behind him. He quickly made his way along the sidewalk, towards the Mystery Shack.

As he stomped his way back, he wiped at his eyes that were stinging painfully, but slowed to a stop as the first street light flickered on above him. His heart was heavy in his chest, beating at a dangerous pace, and the corners of his mouth hurt from being pulled apart so wide. He mentally proclaimed that he now hated the taste of cinnamon. But then, there was this... tingly feeling he was not accounting for. It hung in the back of his mouth; a sick, disgustingly off flavor that was neither his nor the candy's. He wondered. Was that the taste of... "No no no NO!" He whispered and rubbed his heated face harshly.

Dipper walked back to the Shack, numbly, as he had blocked out his disturbed senses and thoughts. Surprisingly, his Grunkle Ford stood waiting for him and, upon his approach, walked swiftly to him, clasping both of his shoulders tightly. He took a deep, calming breath and Dipper watched in concern. "Uncle Ford, what's wrong?" 

"Dipper, I'm only going to ask this once and I want you to answer truthfully. Okay?" Dipper nodded and Stanford asked gravely, "Did you willingly give Bill Cipher any of your blood?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun Dun DAN!


	13. Graphs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello~ yet another chapter has appeared! Enjoy!

Mabel had once called Dipper a drama queen after she had tossed one of her red shirts into the washer with his whites load. It turned all his clothes in that load (socks, underwear, shirts, etc.) pink and he had flipped his lid. Looking back on it, he realized that he really had been too dramatic over a small percentage of his clothing becoming discolored... But this, he was not being a drama queen about; he hated himself. Well, maybe a bit dramatic, actually.

Thinking it best to hear this sensitive truth in the safety of his lab, as it was guaranteed shelter from any other listening ears, Stanford sat Dipper down on a metal stool while he took his place on the desk chair.

"This is what truly worries me about you, Dipper. You've always seemed a little too sympathetic. Some may call it a kind behavior. But in this line of duty, there is no room for it. If a cobra strikes and misses, don't offer it a better angle to hit it's mark; smash it's skull with the heel of your shoe. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Dipper did not raise his eyes from his lap. He felt sick, and let each word that his great uncle said sink in deeper than they were meant to. "I don't understand; I never gave him blood! He took it himself. I NEVER told him he could just- just take it..." Ford's eyebrows relaxed from the strain of anger and his voice became softer as Dipper's eyes finally looked to him. His grandnephew wore a pleading expression that tugged at his heart. He knew that he shouldn't have accused him.

"Just- Dipper... Tell me what happened. I won't get mad at you." He sighed loudly and hugged his arms close to his chest while his eyes fell to the side in the hopes of avoiding Stanford's intense staring. "It was when he first showed up and dragged me into the woods. He cut my neck on his knife in the struggle. But, I mean, I didn't give it to him."

"You were willing to give up blood by getting hurt to overpower him." Stanford correct, and swiveled his chair back to face the desk, pulling up a green graph of Gravity Falls on the computer screen. He asked distractedly "Any other time you think something similar happened?" 

Oh, there was. The moment his great uncle had approached him with this question, his mind had traveled back to Pioneer Day. The tongue that had slid hot sugar and strings of saliva into his mouth a few hours before. The tongue that had licked the blood from his chin while snagging a taste of his flesh. They were not at all different, not even in the way they caused him to react.

"...N- no! Uh, just that one time." The other nodded, not looking back to him until he had finished flipping through a series of images. He then slid to the side so that Dipper could get a better look at them. The first was a green graph; an arial view of Gravity Falls. The date in the corner marked it as mid April. Small yellow dots were scattered mostly among the woods.  
"This is an image from the sonar-weird detector. I wired into the Mystery Shack's 'what?' sign after Weirdmageddon. Once a week, it sends out an inaudible frequency. When it bounces off the cliff wall, it comes back with a visual grid like what you see before us. And those," Here he pointed to the yellow dots, "Are small anomalies. Everything from the Nomes here and the unicorns here." 

"So, the hand held scanner is-" Stanford scuffed, "That piece of garbage can only pick up so much at a time. The only reason I did not use the full sonar-weird detector is because I was in a fit of rage when we went to confront Bill. To receive these images, I have to climb up onto the roof. On top of that, I would have to waste my time, fiddling around with wires." Stanford shook his head with an irritated groan as he flipped through a few more scans relatively quickly. They held no major signs of change "It's just all a mess up there. Someday, I need to go up and organize it properly."

The computer scans entered June. Suddenly, there was a small red dot on the scan taken the week before Dipper and Mabel arrived. The younger leaned forward curiously. "What is that?" The only thing that it could have been- and he knew it must have been, even before Ford took a breath to respond- was none other than "Bill."

The next image that appeared, showed the same red dot in a different location a week later. It was the day after Dipper and Mabel had arrived; the day after he had run into Bill the first time... And the dot had doubled in size. "What does that mean, uncle Ford?" "It means that Bill is dabbling in some ancient cult rituals. The documents I've been able to find for this sort of 'dark magic' are extremely vague and don't indicate a direct group association. However, the image of Bill with four arms as the Hindu God, Vishnu, is often illustrated. The documents explain that a mortal can save the 'fallen god' from losing his divine powers by offering their blood... The rest is very hard to translate."  
Dipper felt a horrible guilt and shame in that moment. No wonder Bill was alway in his face, never leaving him alone... He knew that Dipper was easy to trick. But that still didn't explain as to why Bill wanted to have someone kill him, or why he couldn't really hurt anyone. 

The next graph from a week prior showed that the red dot had moved and had, once again, doubled in size. That had been Pioneer Day, no doubt. Stanford's eyes shifted to glance at Dipper, but when the boy neither met his eye nor made a comment on it. He shut off the screen with a tired sigh. 

"In any case, there are a lot of things we still don't understand about this situation. Have you been documenting everything you have learned?" Dipper nodded. "Good. I'll want to give it a look over soon, if you don't mind." Now they both stood and Dipper offered a brief fragment of a smile to his great uncle. "Oh no, it's fine... I'm going to go take a shower so I'll see you at dinner." 

As he started up the stairs, Dipper chanced a glance back at Ford. He saw eyes flooded with such a sad expression that it gave Dipper the chills before he turned away.

Out of sight, Stanford went back to his desk and pulled the last of his machine's scans up on the computer. The large, dangerous distortion in red was a warning that seemed to stare back at him with a taunting grin. He whispered under his breath, "You have a taste for Dipper, don't you? I may not be able to stop him... but don't think for a second that you can have him, you bastard."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Protective Stanford. I kinda wrote him like the mamma bear of the story and Stanley like the papa bear that fails... 
> 
> To what lengths is Stanford willing to go to protect Dipper?
> 
> To what lengths is Dipper willing to go to find the truth?
> 
> And what means will Bill use to reap his revenge on the Pines? 
> 
> Find out by continuing to read!


	14. A Crime Best Done In The Dark

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello~ this chapter both distroyed my hopes of updating on time and raised them to new heights as I powered through a very difficult patch to write somewhere around the middle of this chapter... Now please brace yourselves, what lies ahead is a descent into the madness of four in the morning writing. 
> 
> Enjoy!

It was too warm for blankets and they had long been shoved to the end of his bed. One leg dangled over the edge of the mattress, kicking absentmindedly. Dipper laid out on his chest with his head propped up on a deflated feather pillow, watching the clear blue sky dusted with stars and a blushing full moon.

Like the majority of his nights these days, he couldn't sleep. Or rather, he didn't want to sleep. His reasoning was simple: if he avoided sleep, the next day would not reach him as quickly as sleep would make it feel. He was putting off having to get up and talk to people, provide them with smiles... It certainly wasn't the absence of Bill's stalking that bothered him and had him disliking the outcome of days yet to have happened. After all, it was just another game of Bill's. He'd make Dipper willing come looking for him and laugh when he scarred Dipper's fairly innocent mind with thoughts that were defiantly not his. 

The very tips of the trees below caught the sneaky light of day as it creeped in on the sleeping town. Seeing this, Dipper made a grunt of effort as he attempted to flip his exhausted body away from the approaching light, shunning it and all the beauty it revealed.

There was a quick wrap of six taps on the nearby window pane. He halted in his turn, and glanced back to the window. Fingers. Ten black-gloved fingers wiggled about like chopped off lizard tails right outside his window. Huh... You don't see that everyday.

In Dipper's mind, there was no doubt to who it could be that was wiggling their fingers at the attic window. Because, who else would? As if to prove his point, a head quite suddenly popped up alongside the fingers. The smile on Bill's face oddly squished against the glass. Those accursed fingers pelt his window like rain with their frantic dances.

Yes, for a long moment, Dipper contemplated continuing to just turn away from the window and ignore the other, who seemed to be shamelessly demonstrating his disturbing pastime of peeping on Dipper through windows. But Bill's tapping was growing louder and he dared not let it wake Mabel. She would probably come up with some crazy assumptions about the appearance of Bill looking for Dipper at his window. And so, he took up a dreary trudge to the window which he slowly and quietly unlocked.

"Hellish morning, ain't it, Dipper-Diddle-Do?- No wait, 'Piney-Piddle-Poo'! Yeah, that one's perfect." Mabel stirred and Dipper quickly shushed the boy who was hanging by his arms off the window seal and whispered angrily, "What do you think you're doing?"

Bill shrugged. "Oh, you know, the usual; hanging out." ... Dipper shook his head and did not laugh as the other laughed. Instead, he leaned out the window and gave Bill a good shove, but he would not fall. He remained stuck like glue to the side of the Shack. "Well, go do it somewhere else. I hate you ." 

This did not surprise Bill physically, but Dipper did take note that the moment he uttered the word 'hate' Bill's grin drained from his eyes for a mere blinks worth of time. "Ooo~ So what did I do this time to receive such fury, Pinetree~?" He had to watch himself. In the moment, he almost yelled at Bill and woke Mabel. His finger pointed in Bill's stupid grinning face and Dipper's jaw hung open, just waiting for hateful words to spill out of it. But he snapped his lips back together and withdrew his accusing finger through a deep inward struggle to remain calm.

Finally, when Dipper trusted himself to whisper again, he started, "I know why you keep messing me. You just want to trick me into giving you blood so your powers will return!" Bill's head fell to the window frame with a small shrug and bored expression. "So? Why does that bend you out of shape so badly? You should be flattered that I chose you, kid." 

"I-" Dipper stopped. He had forgotten what he was about to say when Bill pulled himself further into the room. Now only his legs hung out the window. His hands fell on Dippers shoulders for support and his grin had returned tenfold. "I know your real name." Wait, what? But Dipper could only seem to stare as his brain went dead from lack of air. ...Why was he even holding his breath in the first place? Bill leaned in further while one of his hands slowly crept around and pulled Dipper closer to him by his waist. "What are you-hmp!"

Lips met his harshly and it was as if a thousand candles suddenly lit around them; a penetrating light inside his mind. There was nothing more, and nothing less. Dipper's heart was in his neck and felt as though it would break through his throat. He tried to turn his head away, but the mouth chased after him, and he soon realized that it was useless to fight it. 

Bill's tongue forced it's way into Dipper's mouth and raked over every inch, leaving no tooth or panel of pink flesh untasted, committing it all to memory. Dipper stared at him with frantic eyes and shoved lamely at the arms holding him in place. A certain heat burned him as Bill's pupils stretched, seeming to become more like black slits in the wide, gold irises. 'Why... why?' Dipper's internal voice pleaded. He thought for sure that Bill had heard him as he felt those gold eyes answer smugly, 'Because you wanted this.' 

Did he really? To test this, he hesitantly moved his lips against the rough pushing and pulling of Bill's grin. Tears spilled sideways from his eyes as he closed them and focused on the feeling of the rough kiss. Bill tugged harshly on Dipper's lips with his teeth... Before he suddenly pulled back from the inside of Dipper's mouth and mouthed his real name on abused lips that were dotting with a single drop of red.

Oh god... Dipper wanted this. He actually wanted this.   
"Good to know." His eyes flew opened and he gagged when something like a tongue forced it's way into his mouth and descended down his throat. Bill stood in front of him in his other dimensional body, holding his lifeless 'Jim' body in one hand like a rag doll. From the mouth of Bill's human form slinked out a thick black tentacle, which was crawling in through Dipper's mouth to seemingly no end. 

Dipper was surprisingly still. He was scared, yes. But not of what he was seeing. Even as the giant pyramid's clawed hand came down to run across his cheek, he simply watched. The horror was... Something behind Bill... Lingering in the bright darkness.

His eyes were forcibly opened by gloved index fingers and thumbs and he flinched away. Where was he? Where had he just been? Dipper wobbled a few steps back from the window as a lightheaded feeling overtook him but there were arms on his back to steady his footing. He saw Bill's grinning face through the haze and and pushed it away from him as he struggled out of his arms.

"What're you doing?" Hae did not get an answer. A thumb was pressed into his lips and the other stared at the wrinkles in the soft skin that his thumb created before smearing the flesh back and forth roughly.   
"If I killed you, would you hold that expression forever for me? You have the weirdest look on your face- If you were smarter I'd ask you what it meant, but I know you'll storm off and cry, like last time." It was more of insane rambling on Bill's part, until Dipper pushed his hands away with a glare. "Get out of here. Now!" for once, Bill complied but not before he poked Dipper's watery eyes. 

"Ow!" He was going to yell, but Bill pushed himself off the side of the Mystery Shack and fell out of view. Dipper went to the window and looked down... Bill was gone. The light of the sun shone over the clearing that the Shack sat in and there was no sign of a retreating figure. Had there ever even been a figure, or had it been a waking dream contrived by a deliriously sleep deprived teen?

"Dipper?" He looked over at Mabel as she sat up. "What're you doing?" "Nothing! I... Uh, I'm really tired." She looked him over worriedly as he felt his face and began to breathe harshly. The slightest bit of a metallic taste stung his bottom lip and he froze in horror. Shit. 

He wished the sun would stop rising, so that he could hide away in the dark where no one would know what he might've just done.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quite a turn of events we have now~   
> to understand Bill is to understand the concept of true reality. Can Dipper possibly understand? Or will the truth swallow him whole?
> 
> Who is to know the answer? Oh wait, me -and who ever else continues to read this story!


	15. Self Morality Decision

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hollo~ up in the mountains with unsure signal so I hope that this chapter actually posts! Enjoy!

He was what some would assume to be the 'antichrist'; the bringer of the end of the world. Weirdmageddon had almost been just that. How could he be sure that this was not going to end in the same fate? Dipper was a horrible, horrible trader to his own universe. He had let some confused hormones overtake him and, yet again, helped Bill gain his other worldly powers back. Disgusting. He was absolutely a disgusting, selfish person.

There was a knock on the bedroom door and Dipper quickly shouted, "Go away!" Not quick enough as Stan was already entering before his words took form. What's the point of knocking if you barge right in, anyway? Stanley stood in front of Dipper with his hands on his (actually clothed) hips and an irritated frown.   
"What's wrong with you, eh? You've been moping about in this room for a couple of days- And it smells like depression and hopeless dreams in here. C'mon, It's summer! So go outside you pasty white hermit baby!" Dipper sighed loudly. He didn't meet Stan's eyes and instead buried his body deeper into his blanket cocoon, not even caring about the uncomfortable heat it brought.

"Grunkle Stan, I think I did something really, really bad... And I'm worried that I might do it again." The older man's hard expression eased a bit as he thought it over. "How illegal was it? Did you leave any evidence?" "I-it wasn't something illegal. But, the consequence is horrible." He chanced a glance over at Stan, but the older man just shrugged. "What makes it so bad then? Morality is a cheap tactic compulsive people use because they think they're all high and mighty by following invisible rules. Look kid, Ford would say I'm a horrible roll model- and to some extent, I am- but as far as I'm concerned, who cares if you do it again? You can't get arrested for it, right? And if you WANT to do it again, then fuck those consequences! Do it until it's about to explode and jump into a boat at the last second. Then, spend a couple of days in South America under the name Juan Franco just because you CAN. When you come back, throw all the money you won in a casino into some shit company that screws your life over for the next five years!" He was quiet for a moment as he glared at the ceiling before looking back to Dipper's unsure face. Stan wore an awkward, tight expression as he added quickly, "Uh, yeah... Don't tell Ford about what I just told you, got it?" Dipper nodded, earning him a gruff hair ruffle from his Grunkle before he straighten his tie.

"Good! Well, I'm outta here." Dipper pushed back his blankets to reveal his rumpled hair and overheated face. "Where are you going?" "I'm kidnapping my retarded brother and shoving food down his stupid throat before I knock his lights out so that he actually gets some sleep!" Stan shook his head as he started out of the room, but Dipper caught his mumbling, "I wish this Bill thing would blow over already. He's gonna kill himself." 

When he heard his great uncle descending the stairs, he looked down at his hands. He couldn't really do what Stanley suggested, could he? Risk the start of another world's end to explore the weird (freaky, honestly) feeling festering like a heart tumor in his chest? But, Bill... He was only interested in seeing how hard he could push before Dipper snapped; before he opened himself up to the destined pain the other would, no doubt, inflict upon him. It would undoubtedly be suicidal... But, he wondered if it was possible for him to push pass the pain and reach the smoldering heart within. 

What would he even do with it? Milk it dry and toss it? Keep it locked away, never to be seen again? What if the moment he touched it, it shriveled up and died? So much could go wrong and so little could go right.  
He closed his hand into a fist and looked up to the opposite side of the room with an angry realization. 

"Dang it! I really am angsty."

Bill was wearing a black coat and pants with yellow suspenders and a matching black bow tie tucked in the collar of his crisp, white button up. He smoothed out the cuff on his sleeve mechanically as his mind seemed somewhere else. That is, until he saw Dipper approaching him along the fence of the former Northwest mansion, now the shed to McGucket's robots, to which he offered one of his disturbing smiles. 

"Well, well, well~ It sure took you long, Pinetree!" Dipper nervously stopped in his approach when he was still more than twelve feet from the other. "You were expecting me?" "You, or a herd of angry Pines. Either would be fine." Bill approached him, squishing his face to Dipper's while he poked harshly at the reddening cheek. "Admit it, you were thinking about me~!" Uh, uh! Quick! What was he suppose to say? The truth? A lie?   
"Uh... No?" 

Oh god, no! Bill started rubbing his cheek into Dipper's roughly as he declared quite loudly, "You're going to have to try harder to at least pretend that you aren't feeling emotions for me, Pinetree. Without a struggle, I'll get bored." 

Dipper yanked himself free from Bill's arms and straightened his clothes. "Keep it down! I don't want everyone in Gravity Falls to know what happened. Especially not my family... S-something did happened, didn't it? That wasn't just a nightmare, right?" "What do you think?" Bill leaned in, his mouth agape and his teeth ready to sink into those trembling, pink lips, but he stopped short and smiled mischievously. 

Despite the distraught, almost heart-attack inducing, beating in his chest, Dipper did what had seemed to be the best option. He crouched down and dove between Bill's legs before staggering back up to his feet. A flustered nervousness rose up to his cheeks, "N-not... Here."

That had Bill leaning on an invisible armrest and propping his chin atop his hand as his eyes lingered over the raising blood in Dipper's cheeks. "Oh~ You want me to keep it in the closet! But what if I want to be an expressive human and touch you graphically in public?" This had to have been a mistake. This was never going to work.

But he couldn't give up. Bill thought that he was lording over Dipper's 'love' for him, or whatever. He would let him try to drown him... But he was going to drag Bill down with him and make this a mutual obsession of intrigue. They knew each other's plans, however pretending that they didn't made the game more interesting.

"Look, for now... Let's just stick to hand holding- in private! O-okay? You know, just until I get a little more used to... 'This'." Bill sighed dramatically and cast a glance in through the gates of McGucket's mansion. "Kid, your innocence is sickening. But I don't want to destroy it right away; I want to saver it's screams as I slowly peel it from your naked body-" "I'm not getting naked." Dipper announced immediately and strictly. Bill waved him off. "-So I'll hold your hand, heck, I'll hold both of them. And by the time I let go, you'll be begging me to hold them more. I will OWN those baby hands- Seriously, you have freakishly small hands. Have you noticed that, too?" 

His face was going to be stuck in a mortified glare with blooming red cheeks for a while, wasn't it? Dipper tucked his hands into his armpits and said tightly, "I'll have you know that they are proportionate to my body!" Bill held his hands up in defense as he grinned, "Size is a touchy subject for you, isn't it kid?" 

Before Dipper could reply, McGucket threw his gates open and barreled down the street with a wolfish howl. A pack of pigeon robots chased after him, their laser eyes turning many things in their path to ash.   
"That's my cue. Bye bye, Pinetree~" He ghosted one of his gloved hands over Dipper's face, but he didn't touch. A moment later, he dissolved into a shadowy goop which glided after the screams and destruction of the robots.

Dipper had to bend over and breathe deeply after Bill had gone. His powers had been fully restored (or close to) if he could do something like dissolve. For crying out loud! Not good! Not good at all! When Stanford and Stanley came back from god knows where, Stanford would demand an answer as to why the red dot had grown larger again... Ugh. He was screwed! And, on top of that... Were Bill and him... Like, a thing? He had to give Mabel props for seeing it coming way before he did. Did that make him gay?   
No, no... If he let himself think too deeply about the whole thing, he'd throw up and have a panic attack. 

He would find Mabel, and let her awful jokes and warm smile make him forget about the grave he was digging for himself.


	16. Aria De Capo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello~ wow, I almost forgot to post today! But I remembered! Enjoy~

Was it weird? It was definitely weird. Dipper stared at his face in the steamy mirror and tucked his towel around his waist. His phone had been buzzing with useless texts the whole time he'd been in the shower. Somehow, Bill had gotten Dipper's phone number and had invited him over to 'laugh at his mom's sorry excuse for dinner.' At first, he refused to even consider going. After all, Bill's house was a horror show on it's own. And then having to watch Bill verbally abuse his mother? Dipper was a bit of a mama's boy and he would probably have to stop it the moment he saw it.

But Bill just kept on texting. Text after text of absolute gibberish. Occasionally, there was a random question among them, ranging from ["What are you wearing?"] to ["IOYLGOHPTOOOEUDPTKUNNGIY" ] which Dipper found to be a complete waste of time decoding. Nonetheless, he documented every odd riddle or code that Bill sent him. But when would it stop? 

After he had dried his hair, he went over to his dirty clothes on the bathroom floor and dug out his phone, just to see if Bill was actually saying something. Nope. He was currently sending him every emoji. One at a time. He gave up, sending a text of his own: ["Fine, I'll come. Stop texting me so much."] It was oddly eerie how after almost three hours since the text bombing had started, it suddenly fell still.

He decided to just be casual about it; he didn't dress up nice or anything. He just threw on one of his red shirts and slipped into a pair of jean shorts. Summerween was just around the corner, so a strong wind was bound to be blowing as it always seemed to do around this time of year. He slipped on his favorite hoodie and a pair of Uggs before casually sneaking out of the bathroom. If his inward clock was right, it was five-thirty and Melody, Soos, Mabel, and Waddles were watching re-runs of Ducks 'n Trucks in the living room. 

Not good... If they happened to look to their left when he opened the back door, they would be on his case in an instant. He wandered over to the opening to the living room and saw all four sets of eyes glued to the screen across the way. "Give it up, Duck! There's no where to run... Or fly." The tv shouted loudly, followed by intense action music and gun shot sound effects. "I couldn't look away, even if I wanted to." Soos said with an awed sacredness to his words. Mabel shook her head absentmindedly from her spot in front of Melody's feet, who had stopped braiding Mabel's hair to stare at the screen that illuminated their faces with red.

Huh... Well, maybe he wouldn't have to worry about them after all. He crept to the front door, keeping his eyes on the the four of them as he turned the knob and pulled the door open. They didn't look over. Yep, he was in the clear. He closed the door behind him and looked to the sun that still hung to the west above the trees. He wouldn't be gone long, two hours at most, and he doubted that was enough time for them to notice.  
What Dipper did not expect, however, was for Stanley's Impala to come flying around the corner, just barely stopping in time before it ran him over. Stan poked his head out the window and looked over to Dipper who was holding his chest as he breathed deeply.

"Hey kid, what's up with you?" Of all the times for his Grunkles to return, it had to be now? He stepped past the hood of the car as both Stanley and Stanford climbed out, looking at his panicked face with mild curiosity. "Uh, how was your trip?" Stanford shrugged, "A complete waste of time..." His lips edged up into a smile when Stanley glared and he added sincerely, "But an appreciated gesture. Thank you, Stanley." They shared a warm smile between each other for a long moment before Stanford seemed to remember Dipper's presence. The teen was trying to slowly back away from them while they weren't looking. "And just where are you sneaking off to, young man?" He was caught... Shit.

But it would be okay, Dipper was an amazing liar. As was demonstrated with his sputter of nervous laughter and lack of eye contact with the older men. "What? Who's sneaking? I-I'm not sneaking! I'm, uh... Going to hang out with Wendy! Yep, we're, um... Going to hang out in the junkyard! That's what we're going to do..." 

It was highly unlikely that either of them would buy his horrible, absolutely horrible lie. They were just staring at him and God knows Dipper had no poker face when it came to lying. But both his great uncles shrugged, with Stan adding in, "I believe that." And Ford giving a parental warning, "Don't stay there too long, it's crawling with Eyeball Bats." 

They... Believed him? Just like that? Dipper assumed that they were just in agreeable moods after their trip. He wondered briefly where they could have gone, but didn't stay on that thought for long. After all, they were now making their way inside the shack and Dipper was free to make his way to Bill's house.

He stood at the front door, awkwardly. He could hear classical music playing within and smell some kind of bread baking through the nearby open kitchen window. It seemed, again, like a magazine house. Like a normal family was enjoying a peaceful meal inside. But Dipper had seen the truth of it all and he felt a dread creeping up at the thought of entering it's hold once again. Nevertheless, Dipper rang the doorbell. The piano music stopped, but only momentarily before it began to continue. 

Georgina answered the door with an extremely grateful smile, as if she had expected him not to show up. She had almost been right in her assumption if she had. But he was here, for some reason, and he was at least happy that his presence made her smile when the wrinkles forming by her mouth pointed to it not happening often. 

"Dipper! I'm so glad you could make it for dinner. Jimmy is in the piano room upstairs. I'll get you boys when dinners ready- You're not vegetarian or allergic to anything, are you?" Dipper shook his head and entered the house. His ear tuned into the piano music overhead and he asked Georgina incredulously, "Bill- l mean, Jim can play the piano?" She looked up with a fond smile, "It's the only thing he loves, ever since he was just a baby." She looked back to him and was about to add something but, instead, opted for pushing Dipper towards the stairs with a guiding hand gently pressed into his back. "Head along, now." 

There was an odd feeling about her that made Dipper listen to her. Bill was abusive, but he had a feeling that Mrs. Waters could snap easily. He trudged up the stairs and was met with the unsettling red triangle painting that hung from the wall of the living room. To the left was more stairs and another eerie hallway, and to the right laid a single door, ajar, from which the soft pings of piano wires elapse from. 

He pushed open the door and entered the dimly lit room. Nothing was in the space, save for the sleek black piano and the two candelabra lamps on either side. The three floor-to-ceiling windows, opposite from where he stood in the doorframe, shown brightly with the last rays of light over that were sinking behind the house across the street. And then there was Bill. He was sitting at the piano that faced Dipper, and there was a smile on his face as he continued to play the memorized melody he didn't need to look down at to play.

"What song is that?" Dipper ventured to ask as he closed the door behind him. "Aria Da Capo, Goldberg Variation." Was the simple response Bill gave as he continued to play, but his eyes stayed on Dipper as he came further into the room. "It sounds like a happy song." "And?" "I dunno... I just thought, if anything, you would like the dark sounding music. Beethoven's 5th, or whatever." He reached the piano and stood unnaturally naturally as he tried to not look too out of place in the elegant room. 

"It depends on the person listening. I personally think it sounds like a scalping that's dragging on too long. Pretty tune, isn't it?" Dipper cringed in disgust and sighed, "You always ruin things, don't you?" "I try my best to~!" He said it with a wink as he finished up the song, allowing the room to die in a uncomfortable silence.

Okay, conversation... Dipper had had tons of those. He coughed awkwardly into his hand and started with, "So, you like playing?- The piano, I mean." "It passes the time, between waiting for past me to meet past you so I could start stalking you religiously, and bending people to do my bidding. There's a surprising amount of white space in my life that I can't fill with blood and meats."  
Bill stood up from the piano bench and tugged Dipper down onto it who stiffened immediately. Bill looked to the darkening windows and snapped his fingers to light the candelabras. This was not a good situation in Dipper's mind and, in his panic, he turned around to face Bill, only to run right into his nose. "Ow! What the heck are you doing?" He rubbed at his sore nose as Bill leaned in further. "I'm making the first move, Pinetree. Because you can't bring yourself to do it."

Dipper's back was pushed against the keys, pressing a large section of them down, and filling the room with sound, along with Dipper's muffled gasp of surprise as lips closed around his. A devious smile curled the lips and Bill grabbed hold of both Dipper's hands as they contemplated struggling. It wasn't as if Dipper didn't feel something when Bill was doing this to him, he just couldn't handle those feelings right and they mixed up into all sorts of loops in his brain's wiring. 

Bill pulled away and drank in Dipper's strange expression as he shook their joined hands. "Hand holding, like you wanted. Your hands are moist, you should get that looked at." Dipper pushed himself off the piano, but he didn't dare say anything at the moment because he was sure to choke on his tongue that had been sucked on in the most disturbingly amazing way. No, he just untangled his fingers from Bill's- God, they really were clammy- and gave him what he hopped to be a glare.

"Are you trying to seduce me, Pinetree?" "No! I'm- stop that!" He shoved Bill's hand away from his purposefully crossed legs and gave a sigh. "I... Like kissing you. Okay? I'm just... A little horrified by that fact at the moment. I need to think about it for a while... Please?" Bill looked him over, an irritated air about him as he said darkly, "What if I say no? You're asking a lot for nothing. What's stopping me from bashing your head in the keys and taking you while you're unconscious?" 

Dipper held his ground. "Then you would hurt me, and that's breaking the rules. Isn't it?" The anger rippled across Bill's face and he opened his mouth, but closed it in a snarl when he seemed to realize that he might give Dipper more information.

"Jimmy, Dipper... Dinner is ready!" Mrs. Waters poked her head into the piano room and both boys looked to her from the piano bench. "We'll be there in a second!" Dipper called before looking back to Bill's incredulous frown and spitefully giving him a smile in return, "Thanks for inviting me over, by the way."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aria De Capo is a hauntingly beautiful tune I first heard in the Hannibal movie.


	17. Separation (Deep Under)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Late update, sorry. But it is technically still on the right day. Enjoy!

The Mystery Shack was dark. The porch light flickered, making the front door appear to fade in and out of existence. Dipper heaved a heavy sigh as he made his way up the steps. The door had been left unlocked for him... Which meant someone was also waiting inside.

The gift shop was silent and he easily and quietly made his way into the hallway of the residential section of the shack. What he found shocked him like a bucket of ice water being thrown in his face.

From the living room, the television lights shone in the otherwise black house. The chair was flipped over, the carpet and wallpaper shredded. It started to sink into Dipper's mind and gut that he had missed something. He cautiously entered the room, mindful of the broken glass of a nearby window. He called out, panicking, "Stan? Great uncle Ford? Oh my god, Mabel!" He hurried back out of the room and climbed up the stairs as fast as he could. The door to he and Mabel's room was torn off of it's hinges and he felt the feeling of doom for what he might find settling in. 

The space was illuminated by a disturbing red moon that hung outside the window. He ignored the destroyed state of their bedroom, leaping quickly over one splintered half of his bed. Dipper found Mabel's bed completely untouched.

Frantically, he stumbled over to her. She was sleeping. Sleeping. When everyone else was missing and the Mystery Shack was in shambles. "Mabel! Mabel, wake up!" She continued to sleep on. What was he suppose to do? What was even happening? 

Suddenly, the entire floor was illuminated by a strange symbol. Like a 'U' with no middle and crossed like a 'T'. Or a bull's head, as Dipper immediately thought it was. The light grew brighter and brighter and it burnt like a scorching desert. It was going to kill both of them and he had no idea how to stop it.

He was falling. His eyes just barely opened in time to catch a glimpse of the hardwood floor before he landed head first. Of course. The universe was bound and determined to start his day off poorly. He pushed himself up onto his hands and knees and looked around the room. What was he doing on the floor? Oh. He had fallen out of bed.

Mabel laughed from her spot on her own bed as she brushed her hair out. "That looked like it hurt!" Dipper sat up on his knees then answered with a glare. "It did. I don't see how someone else's pain can be hilarious." "Uh, have you watched TV lately? Pain is comedy unless it happens to you." She proclaimed matter-of-fact-ly before abruptly changing gears, "Today, we should attack Pacifica- With friendliness!" 

"I don't know, Mabel..." He couldn't outright say no to her, especially when she was cheating with those big eyes and sweet grin just begging for him to say yes. But he had Bill to worry about, and that came before he or his sister's enjoyment of the summer.

When she seemed to realize Dipper wouldn't cave, she groaned loudly. "Your secret make out sessions with Bill are more important than hanging out with me? Dipper, please? It will be fun~" If she only knew how true her teasing was.

He climbed up from the floor and gave her a nervous smile. "Alright, fine. Just give me a while to get dressed." She smiled brightly at him and he knew that caving had been worth it. Mabel's smile was the one thing he loved the most about his sister. With it, he forgot about her spoiled behavior and only saw the awkward twin he had grown up with. It was funny... Or maybe not. He had the slightest feeling that he had had a bad dream.

"Yay! Thank you Dipper!" With a slight skip to her walk, Mabel made her way out of the room, leaving him to his thoughts. As they obsessively seemed to do these days, his thoughts came around to Bill. More specifically, the odd dinner that he had attended the night before. 

It had been more like a mad tea party than a nice little dinner. It had started with an awkward silence. Mrs. Waters had asked him simple questions that he could really only find one word answers to: 'How is school back in California?' 'Good.' 'Do you like the bread? I made it fresh just for the occasion.' 'Yes.' It had been rude, but the way that Bill had been staring at him from across the table had scared him into near silence. Things had only tumbled downward from there. Bill had cut himself a piece of rare meat and shredded it as much as he could before slurping up the blood and ripping the meat fiber by fiber apart with his teeth. Dipper had thanked Mrs. Waters after a half an hour of enduring Bill's scare games.

Oh, he had felt so bad at that moment for the woman. She had practically begged him to stay longer- sleepover, even. No doubt, she could see the mood that her son was in and didn't want to be left alone with him. But Dipper had retreated with the lame excuse that his great uncles had told him to be home before eight. A certain chill ran down his spine as he started away from the house, the sound of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata carrying on the wind from the dark window of the piano room. 

Thoughts of Bill sitting in the dark, with his back to the moon as he played the dreary tune by himself, made Dipper curious. What did Bill's face look like when he was alone? He wondered if a demon could ever truly learn to use a heart. He hoped so. When Bill wasn't threatening to kill his whole family, he was a good guy- Wait, no. That was just Dipper's mind warping the truth. He was never a 'good guy,' only a curious creature. What is a monster if you file down their teeth and nails? What do they do when their claws and sharp teeth are gone? Bill was trying to grow his back, leading Dipper to wonder if it was futile or not.

He forced himself to start the process of getting ready as he thought. No matter what Bill tried to do to him, now that Dipper had set him in a bad mood, he would try to use his own powers of manipulation to finally get more information. Summer would fly by him before he knew it, and he didn't want it to be wasted on hormone induced feelings for a demon trapped inside a human body.  
"Dipper! Hurry up!" Mabel called from the stairs as his tugged his shorts up and slid his shoes on with a quick call of, "Coming!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lots of metaphors and mystery in this chapter. Be warned. Intensity in the next couple of chapters.


	18. Summerween

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have the worst writer's block. It s taken me what seems like an eturnity just to write one measly chapter! I will power through it! Enjoy~

"SUMMERWEEN!" Mabel screamed. Candy and Grenda joined the scream as the three girls burst through the attic bedroom door. Dipper jumped and hid his journal under the sheets, a deep blush on his cheeks. What? Pfft. It wasn't as if he had been doodling a familiar triangle with a grinning eye on the corner of the page. He was just surprised by the sudden screaming followed by frantic digging through Mabel's closet.

"What are you guys doing?" He asked warily. Grenda responded with an excited and manly scream of "It's Summerween!! How could you forget that, Dipper!? Mabel's only been talking about it all week!!" Okay. He might've been ditching his responsibilities as a supportive brother over the past couple of days. Now he felt guilty. Mabel continued to pull out her costume along with Candy and Grenda's. She had made them herself around Halloween last year. Sure, they had decided that they would stop Trick-or-Treating when they were twelve, but Mabel refused to give up the dressing up part. On top of that, Wendy had invited all of them to Robbie's costume party. Being a funeral home and morgue situated in the middle of a graveyard made his house the perfect location.

"Dipper!" He looked back to Mabel as she turned around and threw two articles of clothing at him. He held them up, dread instantly filling his gut. "Mabel. There is no way I'm going through this again. I'm still traumatized from last time!" She waved it off, giving him a cheeky grin. "C'mon, Dippy~ This one is made by me, so it's perfect!" He crossed his arms. Mabel drew closer with a jetting bottom lip, "Pleeease?" He already knew that this was a bad idea.

Robbie's parents were too nice for their own good. They had let him invite nearly every person in Gravity Falls between the ages of fifteen and thirty five. Fog machines, strobe lights, and (hopefully fake) dead bodies made the morgue take on a more Summerween sort of scary instead of it's usual overly sanitized kind. 

The music was pounding into their skulls before they even stepped foot onto the porch. Dipper was pleasantly surprised that Robbie wasn't playing his own music. If that had been the case, he might've left. Grenda knocked harshly on the door and, within seconds, Wendy answered it. She was dressed like a female Rumble McSkirmish, her head bouncing to the beat.

"Let's see..." She pointed to Grenda, "Princess," then Candy, "Prince." They both nodded enthusiastically. "Dude, dude. Grenda. You are a badass princess. And Candy? Nice." Wendy said seriously, her eyes moving from the two girls to the twins. Her smile grew before she burst into a fit of laughter.

"We're Little Red Ridding Hood and The Big Bad Wolf!" Mabel announced proudly, tugging her embarrassed brother closer to her despite his weak struggling. Wendy had to wipe tears of laughter away, but she managed to choke out a few words. "Is that the 'Preteen Wolf-boy' costume that Stan made you wear when you were, like, twelve?"   
He knew it! He knew that the horrible memory would be picked and plucked at tonight. Before he could respond, Mabel cut in, "Nonsense! I made this one for 'Teen' Wolf-boy!" Someone from inside yelled 'Yo, Wendy!' She looked back and waved with the yell of "Hold on!" Before stepping aside and letting them into the party. "I'll be over at the sober beer pong table kicking some ass if you need me. Have fun, you guys!" She slipped in between the crowd of people before Dipper could even ask her what to do. After all, this was only his second Summerween party and Mabel hadn't invited her friends the first time.

"Dipper! We'll be right back! We have to go cripple Candy's ex boyfriend- You know, the one who dumped her two weeks ago- because he made her cry!" Wait, what? "Mabel! That's not a good idea!" She couldn't hear him though, the music was too loud and his yelling blended in with the cloud of chatter. They were gone, leaving Dipper by himself in nothing more than shoes and uncomfortably itchy fur pants with a matching tail and ears. 

The crowd cheered as the song changed to a dubstep tune and whoever was in charge of the music cranked the volume just that much louder. Everyone was dancing or jumping to the throbbing beat and Dipper was thrown around between strangers. Slowly, and painfully, he managed to push himself free of the dance cluster. The side of the room was littered with antisocial party goers. He scrunched up his nose in disgust at the sight of Robbie and Tambry making out in the corner.

So, maybe Dipper wasn't really much of a party person... That was a lie. He just didn't want to party alone. Hadn't he come here to have fun with his friends and sister? But they were all busy and didn't have time for him. Well, jeez. If that wasn't a start to a pity party, he didn't know what else was. Dipper would be fine on his own. He'd just get something to drink from the kitchen and then dance with the mob of people who he had never met. Sounded promising.

Someone was pushing one of the double doors open and Dipper ducked under their arm, stepping into the kitchen. It was full of twenty year olds chugging sodas, sitting on the counters, and talking loudly to their friends. Dipper had thought that there would be less people in the only room of the house that wasn't decorated, but apparently they liked lingering by the food and drinks.  
He took a Pitt soda from the cooler set on the black and white checkered floor and hesitated. Maybe he could hide in the kitchen for a while... No. Mabel would think that it was her fault for making him want to leave already when, in all actuality, it was his own thoughts that made him wish to be somewhere else.

Something cold pressed against his back and a certain, strange excitement twitched alive in his head. It wasn't him, why would it be? Dipper turned around to find that it was. Bill stood in front of him with a double barrel shotgun pointed directly at his chest. Anybody going to react? No one? Dipper backed up a bit, but Bill took equal steps to maintain his close presence.

"Don't shoot me. Look, I'm sorry!" He stammered, his shoulders hitting the wall by the back door. Bill's grin grew to a crescent moon as his head cocked to the side. "What ever could you be apologizing for, Pinetree?" He twitched his finger against the trigger and Dipper gasped in surprise.

Bill lower the gun and leaned on it, much like his cane. "A hairless werewolf pup, all alone and afraid." What was he going on about? "Why are you here? You're not even in costume!" "Oh but I am." Dipper gave him a once over. Yellow button down, black vest and slacks, and a lose-hanging red bowtie. It just looked like Bill's normal clothes to him. Then again, there was also the gun to consider. Shit. "A hunter." How painfully fitting. Suspiciously so.   
"You knew-" "That you'd be wearing that costume? Of course I did! You underestimate the limitless information collection that breaking and entering can accomplish. And, as your boyfriend, I am required to confiscate any and all information that I can use against you."

Boyfriend. He said he was his boyfriend. No. He was not acknowledging the burning in his cheeks. How could he get out of this one? The group to the right of them were casting curious glances their way and it was making him anxious. Bill followed his glance to the other group and they looked away instantly. He grabbed hold of Dipper's hand and roughly pulled him out the back door.

"Ow! Could you try being a little less mean?" He yanked his hand back without a fight and rubbed at it soothingly. The graveyard laid before them, clearly unlike the front of the house, bathed in artificial fog. Bill took hold of the elastic in Dipper's waistband, pulling him to a grave and forcing him to sit on it. "Have you finally accepted me as your lord and supreme ruler?"  
Dipper tried to get up from the grass but Bill sat on his legs. "This is someone's grave!" "Your point? It's not the resting place of a human, it's just the dump for used shells. The souls get devoured before they reach whatever place you believe that they are suppose to go to by Grims. And, unless you want to ask Grim excrement for permission to sit here, shut your fucking mouth and listen to me."

He leaned over Dipper, who was watching him carefully from the headstone that he unwillingly rested against. A gloved hand came up and touched one of Dipper bare nipples. He gasped and, like any other apex predictor, Bill attacked when his prey was the most vulnerable.

Hot lips pushed into his. It hurt so much. Not right there, but in his chest. For a long moment, Dipper thought that maybe he had been wrong; that the thing he was feeling for Bill was hate. He had never expected that liking someone could hurt so badly. Bill's tongue was in his mouth and his hand was sliding down to Dipper's thigh, gripping and fondling the flesh with strangely gentle fingers. They were so close to a...certain area. He couldn't help but sigh Bill's name into the kiss.

Bill pulled him forward by the hair, suddenly, before slamming his head back into the gritty marble stone behind it. It sent him reeling, his skull pulsating as a warning against fainting. He momentarily ignored the pain and no doubt the migraine it had brought along. He hesitated, his hands wanting to do something. Push him away? What did Dipper want? He wished he knew.

There was a slurping noise between their lips when Bill pulled back. It was a sudden realization that hit Dipper like a punch in the kidney as he stared at the expressionless face above him. Between that angular jaw and slightly pointed nose, his slim yet strong arms and thin waist, not to mention his soft hair... He thought Bill was hot. How on earth had that happened? When did it happen? Just now?

Bill's expression became etched with anger. "Stop doing that!" He hadn't done anything, though. What was he suppose to stop doing? All he could manage to do was stare back at that furious face with one of utter confusion.

The dimensional being trapped in a teenaged body got up with roar of anger. He picked up the gun, pointing it at Dipper's forehead, and pulling the trigger. Dipper flinched. He started to wonder if maybe Bill actually did have one bullet in the gun; that he was playing a one-way game of Russian Roulette with his life. This time there had been no click, but the next was sure to be the last.  
"You know what, twitchy-bitchy? Let me tell you something that you're probably already aware of, you smarty pants~!" He tapped the gun. "This gun? Yeah, it has one bullet in it. Two chambers, two shots, and I've already pulled the trigger twice. Which means the next time it goes off someone's getting killed~!" Here a grin came to his face. "The question is: Who will it be?"

"Why?" Dipper glared and stood up slowly. "Why are you doing this? Are you really still just a heartless monster?" When Bill only continued grinning, he bit his lip and looked away with a mumble, "Don't you feel anything for me?"

"What'll it be, Pinetree? You can blow my head off because I messed with your precious 'feelings' or I can kill you and write a beautiful tear-inducing suicide note for your sister to read." 

This wasn't fair. Kill Bill? He wasn't an ex-assassin out for revenge. And he... Liked Bill a lot. Plus, who knows what would happen if Bill's death wish was fulfilled. No. Dipper ignored the tears of frustration and held his hands out in surrender. "T-then go ahead and kill me." 

Bill's smile formed into a crease as he said oddly "Didn't think? You stink." before raising the gun at Dipper and pulling the trigger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Intensity... Stay tune for more soon.


	19. Bloody

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was without power all day hence just barely making the update day. Ten minutes more denied the Internet and I would have had my first tardy update. I now bring to you, the continuation of The Stone in His Chest. Enjoy

Dipper screamed and fell onto his side. Pain- Pain and blood. He gasped for air in shock. He had been cocky, thinking that the rules of Bill's rebirth would keep him from hurting him. Now look where he was: bleeding out in a graveyard. He looked up at Bill as he stood over, watching him with a grin. "It's almost art, the blood and all, soaking the grass. It's a beautiful thing." He stood there for a moment longer before turning away with wide eyes. Bill screamed through a closed mouth, his hands holding his face.

What was going on? Dipper's vision was hazy with tears, but he would be fine. Bill had shot him in the thigh at close range, but missed his bones and major arteries. He was pretty sure that it was more of a surface wound than an internal one. Still, It was extremely painful and bloody. He could see more blood starting to speckle the short grass in front of Bill and reached out to tug at his pant leg.

"Bill-" Dipper cast a look back at the morgue that continued to thump with music. No one had heard the shot and Mabel's design of his costume had a major flaw: lack of pockets. No cellphone. Hands turned his head roughly to look up into Bill's bloody face that was still holding a horrible smile. Blood and clots streamed down his face like tears from the hole where his left eye once was and stains of nerves and destroyed tear ducts laid against his pale skin, weeped for their loss.

"You see what you made me do, bitch? It's all your sacrificial nonsense that's driving me to this." He pulled out his phone and threw it at Dipper's face that was drowning behind a wall of tears. He must've looked so stupid but, in the moment, he wanted nothing more than say something, something to Bill. 'I'm sorry!' Anything! But he was choking on sobs. It wouldn't matter now anyway because Bill was wobbling away into the woods.  
Dipper pushed himself up, using a headstone for support, and limped after him. He wasn't going lay there on the ground crying and calling for help from Bill's cellphone. That's what Bill wanted, but Dipper was not going to let him wander off into the woods all alone.

From one headstone to the other, he walked, cripplingly slow, after Bill who sounded to be breathing heavy ragged mucus breaths. The woods were no place for either of them in their conditions, but Bill must have walked at least a mile before collapsing against a large boulder. Dipper staggered over to him and slid down the mossy rock's side to take his place beside the other.

"So that is the rule, huh? If you hurt someone, you get hit twice as hard." Bill didn't respond. His remaining eye gazed blankly at the night sky through a clearing between the top of the trees. Dipper bit his lip and tried again, "You can't really blame me. I mean, you decided that shooting me was a good idea even though you knew what would happen." He paused for a response but added soon after, "Why didn't you kill me?" It was looking like he wasn't going to be getting a single word out of Bill. Dipper sighed, he was exhausted. His leg was going painfully numb, which he was guessing wasn't a good sign, and every time he thought about what was on (or not on) the other side of Bill's face, his stomach tightened and threaten to push up what little he had in it.

"Look kid, don't chalk it up to being some sort of abstract desire to spare you. I wanted to kill you, but I'd rather not go out that way." Dipper leaned forward a bit, looking over the destroyed eye and noting that the surviving one was following his movements carefully. "Shooting me in the thigh was worth loosing your eye?" Bill shrugged with and irritated expression carved into his withering face, "One eye is sexy." Dipper stared at him for a moment, before a smile spread across his face, "You're losing it, man." "So are you."

There was a long moment where no words were exchanged and Dipper's mind went hazy, but it momentarily came back when Bill spoke. "You're going to die from infection." Dipper managed to straighten up from his slouch. "You're going to die from shock and blood loss." Dipper's head lolled, vision blurring, and soon he was asleep. Bill remained awake, lost in an unreadable thought process. But every once in awhile, his eye glanced over at Dipper's bloody thigh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy, I feel a slow spiral of drama coming soon. It may not be in the next chapter or the one after that but I will warn you sooner than later.


	20. Red Dot

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy some more stuff. The good kind

Dipper violently jolted awake. Ford was calling out and lightly smacking his cheeks in order to revive him. He looked around frantically and found that he was laying on the outdoor couch in the shade of the Mystery Shack's porch. The sun wasn't visible yet, but the sky was becoming lighter as it grew closer.

How the hell had he ended up here? The last thing he could remember was resting in the dark woods with Bill after a bloody exchange at the Summerween party. Where was Bill? His great uncle was asking him something, but he was still stuck in his mind. He wondered about his costume's disappearance and replacement with his own clothes. 

With effort, Dipper managed to sit up and, for the first time, he felt the true effects of a close range shot. His leg was on fire. The bullet had cut through a section of tissue in his right inner thigh all the way out the other side. The skin that had been close to the end of the barrel was burnt and tender. The wound was covered by his shorts and no blood was coming through so that was a positive.

"Dipper, are you listening to a word I'm saying?" Right. Stanford was still talking while a calculating eye ran over him. "Uh, sorry. What did you say?" "We were looking for you all night! Mabel is extremely upset. She thinks that you disappeared from the party because she left you by yourself. Where did you go?" Ford asked sternly.

Stanford was smart and nice to him most of the time. He really saw Dipper as a close family member and a partner who he could explore the pockets of weird with. However, with such an attachment came the instinct to protect and Dipper knew Ford would blame himself for letting Bill leech onto him. And so, Dipper went for the snippy teenager route. "Why should I have to tell you?" He hated himself for it, but he ultimately thought he was protecting his great uncle this way.

"Excuse me?" Stanford's eyes grew wide and he knelt beside the junky couch to stare up into Dipper's face, grabbing hold of both his arms, and trying incredulously to read the younger's shifty gaze. "Dipper, you made your sister cry- I almost filed a missing persons report! I have a right to know where you were and what you were doing last night!"

"Nothing! Bill and I just-" "Bill? You ran off alone with Bill!?" He shouldn't have mentioned Bill, but Stanford yelling at him was unnerving and upsetting. He didn't want him to be mad. Ford took a deep breath and stood. "We need to talk in my lab about an unavoidable subject, as it seems to only be getting worse. Come along, Dipper." What Dipper wouldn't do to get out of this situation. Any opportunity that could prevent him from following Stanford to the lab would be readily accepted. 

None came. Dipper was forced to accept his fate and very carefully slid off the couch. Ford had already stormed inside, anger practically pouring in streams out of his eyes, leaving the coast clear for Dipper to test his ability to stand. There was a tightness on his thigh and the fabric rubbing at his seared flesh was an unpleasant feeling, but he would grin and bear it until he absolutely couldn't anymore.

Walking straight without a limp was the hardest part, but he managed a fairly casual walk down the stairs. He rode the elevator beside his silent great uncle before arriving at the main lab space. The operating table was pushed aside and a small fold out table with two plastic chairs took up the open area, littered with playing cards and beer bottles. It was weird to imagine that Ford had probably drank a few of those. Dipper wasn't so dumb that he didn't know about his Grunkle Stan smoking and the both of them drinking when he and Mabel weren't around.

Dipper found himself sitting on the stool by Ford's desk. It had become more cluttered than the last time he'd been down there. His great uncle bent over and typed fiercely at the computer, pulling up a newer image that the abnormality scanner had picked up. A massive red circle stood out, just in the lining of trees to the right of the Mystery Shack. He cast an accusing look at Dipper, who had turned pale at seeing his shame displayed on a screen. 

"If he obtains any more power in the third dimension, he'll have more than he ever did in the mindscape! This isn't a game! The world could be devastated with one swipe of his finger! Dipper. I know you've been giving him more blood. Don't lie, this is serious." In return, Dipper glared, "I know it's not a game! I'm not some dumb kid like you think I am!" Ford opened his mouth, but Dipper shut his response down and continued in a furry that neither of them were accustom to him being in.

"He played on my weaknesses to get my blood and I was terrified to tell you because I knew that you would get mad like this! But you know what? I know Bill better than you do now! He's an insane, abusive asshole, but I-!" He stopped abruptly and looked away from Stanford's wide eyes. He wiped at his frustrated tears with a mumble, "You don't have to worry about him using his magic, he can't hurt anything without hurting himself twice as much." 

Dipper waited for it to come; for his uncle to tell him how horrible and disgusting he was for defending Bill. He was surprised that he had even said it to begin with. Ford didn't yell. He chanced a glance back and tried to make sense of Ford's expression (some sort of tear between emotions) before the man turned back to the screen. "Go to your room." "Huh? Why?" "You're grounded." 

Parents were supposed to be the ones who did the grounding, not his 'understanding', and 'cool' Grunkles! He got off the stool, his leg stinging as he stood with a loud and frustrated groan. "Are you serious!? This is so unfair!" Those, apparently, were the wrong words. Ford turned back around, rage glaring behind his glasses. "While you are under MY supervision, you'll do what I say! And I said go to your room, now!"

The burning of his leg as he stomped out of the lab was nothing compared the burning in his face. Dipper was pissed- more than pissed, he was furious. Not only at Stanford, but at the whole world. He needed to punch or kick someone. He stepped out from the vending machine and had the smart idea of kicking it with his bad leg. Dipper hissed, "Fuck!"   
"Watch you mouth!" A woman berated him from the nearby shirt rack. He ignored her and limped through the living room and up the stairs. Soos passed him on the steps with a paint bucket and brush.

"Oh, hey dude. I just got done fixin' the paint in your room. It's brown now so- Hey are you okay? You look a little red in the face." "Not right now, Soos." He finished climbing the stairs, dragging his leg after him. Everything that had been in he and Mabel's room now laid across the landing outside their door. Mabel was laying her bed but looked up as Dipper threw himself onto his own bed with an irritated sigh.

"Dipper where have you been!? I tried to find you at the party but you were gone!" Dipper sighed again, staring at the triangle shaped light that the window casted on the ceiling. "What's wrong, bro-bro?" "I don't want to talk about it." His hand crept down and felt his thigh. There were stitches, he felt them through his pants. Bill had stitched the wound? He felt a bitter flutter in his chest and covered his face with his pillow before letting out a muffled scream.

Mabel rolled her eyes. "You're such a drama queen." As an after thought, she said casually, "Oh, when you were gone, Grunkle Ford borrowed your journal by the way." Great. Dipper shoved the pillow harder against his face and wished he had the will to suffocate himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stanford's a bit of an owl poot in this chapter and whatever shall Dipper do now that he is grounded?


	21. Grounded

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will not forget about you, lovely readers. So here. Enjoy!

Counting the rings of age on each board above his bed. It had become the best way to think without using his brain. The attic looked more normal now that it wasn't pastel pink, but placing their furniture against the freshly painted light brown walls didn't make Dipper feel any less like a prisoner.

He lazed about the Mystery Shack in a pathetic puddle of despair for several days, moping about in a way that made everyone around him either concerned or annoyed. Being confined to the shack indefinitely had left him in this weird listless state of mind. Without mysteries to explore or other worldly beings to lightly obsess about what was his summer? Watching TV? He was sure that if the suspension from suspense went on much longer his mind would turn on itself. Considering that he was already coming up with conspiracies of supposed hidden messages in the Sanches fried chicken commercials, his sanity was already up for question.

While he was absently flipping through a dictionary (because what else was he suppose to do with his time), Mabel entered the living room sluggishly. "Dipper, are you ungrounded yet?" He wished. "No." She sighed heavily and sat on the arm of Stan's chair beside him. "Grunkle Ford is being a butt! He's indirectly punishing me for you running off by not letting you go anywhere with me! I mean, it's almost been a whole week. That's way too long for anyone to go without seeing sunlight!" "I know right? But, Mabel, I can see the sun from the windows." She turned her head away from him dramatically, "That's not the same!"  
They fell into a series of groans and sighs about how horribly bored they were because of Stanford's stupid grounding. But the string of distressed sounds stopped when Dipper's phone buzzed. He quickly pulled it from his pocket and looked it over hopefully.

["What is a cow's inevitable fate, but also the name of a homosexual night club? Forty seconds to respond."] 

Dipper unintentionally sighed in relief. Bill hadn't tried to reach him in any way since Summerween and he had began to wonder if it was because he was in the hospital or just because he had shifted back to hating Dipper. The day before, he had sent Bill a text along the lines of ["Are you dead? If not, text me. Okay?"] and now Bill had responded with a weird...riddle? Or maybe it was suppose to be a joke? He had know idea what to make of it.

"The Meat Grinder!" Mabel suddenly spouted out and Dipper turned to see Mabel looking over his shoulder at the phone. He turned it away from her and felt his cheeks darken a little. "Mabel-" "Hurry up and type it in!" Should he really? He had about twenty seconds left, easily enough time to type it out and send it. But did he really want Bill to think that he had memorized the names to gay clubs? Not particularly, no. Sensing his hesitation, Mabel gave his arm a good shake, "Dooo iiiitttt!" 

"Alright! Fine! Just stop doing that already!" She instantly let go of his arm and he quickly sent Mabel's answer. There was a pause as the time went over the forty second mark and continued on. But then his phone buzzed and a long message appeared:

["There are so many punishments for cheating that I'm going to have a hard time deciding which I enjoy the best.  
But that is the right answer, so I'll just torture you when you come over tonight instead of stealing you away right in front of Shooting Star."]

Oh... Dipper locked his phone without a response, knowing that Mabel had read the message. He was waiting for it, honestly. For Mabel to freak out either in anger or in happiness. It was hard to tell what she would do when, although she had been completely right about his attraction to Bill, it was still Bill after all. Some of the people of Gravity Falls who had been through Weirdmageddon had such a resentment toward him that they had banned any and all triangles from their lives.

Mabel sighed loudly and patted his back. "Don't stress out, you get all sweaty and gross when you do. Besides, I KNEW this would happen and you have my ninety-five point three percent support." It was too embarrassing to talk about his one-sided feelings like they were actually returned or that they even existed, but his chest felt a bit lighter knowing that at least his twin sister was okay with it. "Why only ninety-five percent?" A smile spread across his face before he could catch it as Mabel crossed her arms and frowned deeply. "Because, he's a colossal jerkface! I've had nightmares of a giant squirrel eating Bambi!" 

Soos came in through the back door and Mabel shouted, "Hey, Soos! Dipper is in love!" And just as soon as he was glad that she knew, he wished she didn't. He shoved at her roughly, "Mabel!" In response, she slid off the armchair to sit on top of her struggling brother. Soos gave a thumbs up. "Nice, dude. She's the same age as you this time, right? You know, a girl you might actually have a chance at?"

"It's a guy and he's technically like, as old as time or whatever. But yeah, he's about the same age- ow!" Dipper kicked Mabel in the back with his good leg and, in return, she slapped him on the chest harshly. "What's your problem!?" He managed to shove her off, glaring angrily, "I'm not in love with him so stop telling people about it!" She was pissed off as well now and spat out sarcastically, "Oh, I must be stupid then because I thought we were just talking about how I give him my permission to date you!" 

"Uh, Dipper? If you're worried what I think about you, don't dude. Love is what gives us hope. Our love for people and things is the only true feeling that binds us to this plane of existence. Because without loving or bring love, your not living. You know? So, the fact that you found someone you love, is pretty great." "That was beautiful, Soos." Mabel added, but her voice was still angry and her eyes locked narrowly on her brother. Soos just shrugged. Dipper didn't look happy at all, his face was blotchy and red and he was stiff as he took quick breaths. 

Talking about his unsure feelings with the both of them was too much and Dipper had reached his limit of stress and anxiety. They were talking about things they didn't understand. How could they so easily declare his confusion as love? He needed more time before he was sure of what it was. He pushed past Soos and stomped right out the back door, suddenly breaking out into a run the moment that he saw Stanford carrying a ladder towards a tree that held Mabel's glittery trash bag kite. But the run was weak and he limped heavily, his amateur stitches contracting harshly with every push.  
"Dipper! Get back inside!" Ford had thrown down the ladder and chased after him for a moment before giving up. Even in the horribly messed up state Dipper was in, his great uncle was no match for him when it came to stamina.

He shuttered from the pain that radiated off of his leg from running and walking- then climbing up those porch stairs. He stood, hunched over in front of the white door. He had no idea why he had come here of all places, when the demon that lurked inside seemed to be at the center of all his problems. But he was there, and there was no way he was going to be able to move his leg again anytime soon. He rang the doorbell and straightened as best as he could while leaning most of his weight on his left leg.

Mrs. Waters opened the door with a smile, but it was full of sadness that matched her mourning black dress. A gold cross hung around her neck and her blond hair was pulled back into a tight bun. Dipper's mind immediately told him that Bill had died, that this was a mother grieving her loss. In it's frantic theorizing he overlooked the fact that he had received texts from Bill about two hours before (it had taken awhile to get there with a gimp leg). 

"Today's not a very good day. Please, go home." Her blue eyes practically begged him to leave, but Dipper had no intentions of going back to the Mystery Shack. "Is Bill home?" An utter horror broke out on her face and she took a step back. "So, you've met his other personality." Did she think her son had a split personality disorder? He supposed that it would make sense to a nonbeliever of the supernatural. Dipper nodded and she seemed to ease a bit, stepping aside to reluctantly let him in.

"He's usually my Jimmy; a bit of a spoiled brat, what only child isn't? But ever since Summerween he's been Bill all of the time." Her voice began to shake as if she was about cry. Though Dipper knew telling her the truth- that there never really was a James Waters- would be too much for the poor woman, he so desperately wanted to tell her so she would understand that it wasn't her fault.

Dipper sat carefully on the couch beside the depressed woman as she had noticed his limp and gestured to it for him to take a rest. "Is your leg fine? I wouldn't suggest climbing the stairs in that condition." Dipper shook it off with a mild smile, "I'm fine. I, uh... Got my leg tangled in barbed-wire. B-but it's fine!" 

"How did you meet James, by the way?" Her voice sounded distant as she started to speak, staring at one of the covered windows. "It's funny, for the longest time I thought you were an imaginary friend of his. He told me these stories when he was no more than five about climbing inside of your body and wearing it to a puppet show. Obviously, children have strange imaginations when they're little, so I thought nothing of it. But it scared me when he told me of the horrible wars he had imagined he fought in to librate his 'dimension.' He scared away physiatrist after physiatrist, doctor after doctor- even his own father... When he turned twelve, however, he stopped talking about you and all the insane things that worried me."

She paused for a long moment before saying, almost like it was a joke, "He would sneak out of the house a lot, but he was a straight A student. Until two years ago when 'Bill' started showing up. He's evil. Not necessarily in a physically violent way, but in the things he would say... When we moved here a month and a half ago, he was so sweet, a brat, but he was nice... Now this 'Bill' is back and he cut my baby's eye out!" 

Dipper had to look away as the miserable woman's eyes began to silently spill over. What was he suppose to do? Her life was completely devoted to her son who wasn't even her son. Why did Bill even choose her of all people? No. He pushed thoughts related to investigating Bill away and tried his best to comfort her, even if it was only in his own awkward way.

"I met Jim the first day of summer... I also met Bill. Even though Bill seems scary, he's soft in some places because of the Jim part of him. Uh, I don't know if this makes sense but, Jim and Bill are the same person. They're both your son, so... Um. Don't worry."

"Boy, if you ladies are done crying, I'd like to have the gimp with extra whipped cream, hold the old maid." Both Dipper and Mrs. Waters looked over as Bill descended the staircase to the right of the couch. A flutter of dread and something similar to happiness filled Dipper's chest like suffocating butterflies. He was scared, yet excited to see him again.  
That is, until Bill turned towards him with a grin... And a black eyepatch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Super excited about the whole CipherHunt that's been happening recently~ I hope the statue will be made available for everyone to go and visit. That is my wish. 
> 
> Anywho, I wonder where Dipper is running off to at the end of this chapter... Hmm.


	22. A Curse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello~ to be respectful:
> 
> WARNING! There is some non-con in des chapter.

The third floor hall had become more narrow, that had to be it. The walls crowded in on Dipper like reaching hands as he followed Bill to his room. Dipper took notice that the cross on the bedroom door was flipped upside down and slowed his limping pace to mere inching along the wood floor towards their destination.

After tearing Dipper from the couch, ignoring his emotionally distraught mother, and dragging him up the stairs, Bill did not speak. It was unnerving and Dipper had begun to wonder why Bill seemed so eager to get to his room.

They reached the door, the owner swinging it open to slam into the wall behind it with a loud bang. What Dipper stepped into was not the same room that it had been the last time he visited. A single red candle burned on the desk as the only source of light and the white walls were blanketed with photo after photo, messily overlapping to accommodate so many. The walls seemed smaller against the shear tally of photos.

As his eyes adjusted to see better in the dimness, he realized two unsettling things immediately: All of the photos were of him, and Bill had closed the door behind them. A large eye was drawn over the pictures that hung behind the bed, painted with a crusty red substance. Dipper was one hundred percent positive that it was blood.

"W-What the heck is all of this?" He demanded as he turned to face Bill who was slithering towards him with a penetrating grin.

"You're not the only one keeping tabs on a weird creature wearing a human body." What was that suppose to mean? Bill was looking over his handiwork, bemused if not borderline disgusted by the imagery surrounding him.

There was a picture of Dipper flicking the mud off of himself after climbing out of the mud pit on Pioneer Day. Marker on the corner said 'Disgust?' Another image of him laughing loudly with Mabel on their way back from school had Mabel's eyes crossed out and a star drawn over her forehead while a red arrow pointed at Dipper's open mouth. The note in the corner read 'Invitation? Teeth. Nerd alert.' 

He was stunned to horror... But, oddly impressed with the level of collective data that the other had managed. "Why are you so interested in me?" Dipper finally managed to ask and a cool expression settled on Bill's face, showing a bit of defense to the question. Touchy subject?  
"Don't get a big head, Pinetree. If anything, be afraid. Very afraid." Bill sat down on the edge of his bed and pointed at the empty spot beside him as if demanding Dipper to fill it. The shorter boy only hesitated a moment before sitting beside Bill on the surprisingly soft bed. He was sure as the sun rising that the bed had been stiff and uncomfortable last time he had sat on it.

"You're weird. The most disturbingly strange meat sack I have ever laid my eye on. What I'm basically saying is, that you're a freak, kid. And that means a lot coming from me!" Was it weird that somehow Dipper thought Bill was trying to compliment him? The idea that it was even possible took root in the analyzing one-eyed gaze that the imposing figure carried as he pushed Dipper into laying back.  
Somewhere in the back of his scrambling mind, Dipper took note that he could feel his phone going off in his pocket again. But that wasn't important, considering it would only be Ford wanting to yell at him. He had more pressing matters, like the way Bill was feeling up his right leg. Dipper knew that he was dragging out his actual intention of reaching the stitches. That was not going to happen as far as Dipper was concerned, and he grabbed hold of Bill's wandering hand as it reached the edge of his shorts. "No way! Don't touch me!" 

Bill started to smile but it tanked and became a frown. His hands coming up to hold Dipper's neck. With both of his thumbs on the other's Adam's apple, he felt Dipper swallow hard but he didn't put up a fight. Why? He could easily push Bill away. "What are you doing, huh? What kind of magic have you been dabbling in?" What? Dipper finally pushed the hands away from his throat, trying to sit up only to be held down by a hand on his chest. So he responded irritatedly, "I haven't. What are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb. You're clever, kid, but a being of pure energy like myself can feel it when they're cursed." Bill twirled a lock of Dipper's hair around his spindly fingers while his other hand, still in Dipper's grasp, unbuttoned his shorts. He received a gasp and his other hand left the soft brown hair to join in the struggle for the fabric. Dipper was trying to banish the hands far, far away. An angry smile came to Bill's face, "What was it? A curse to slowly make my ribs heavier and heavier until they suffocated me to death? Knot my stomach so the acid dripped out and poisoned the rest of my body?" 

The pinned boy pushed and shoved at Bill frantically as he roughly pulled Dipper's shorts down to his knee. But his fingers continued to move about him as if nails weren't digging into his arm and yanking as a panicked voice pleaded for him to stop. Bill wasn't listening, or rather, they sounded like inviting calls instead of repellent to him.

"If you hate me so much, why don't you doing something about it? Grab my throat and squeeze." He drug out the last word as he squeezed at the front of Dipper's underwear, who became oddly still and non-combative in response. That wasn't the sort of reaction Bill was looking for. He wanted Dipper to scream and desperately try to get away, or at least show how much of horny bitch he really was by moaning and begging to be touched more. But Dipper didn't do anything. Bill rubbed him harshly through his underwear, waiting to hear a noise or see a change in his face. 

That face. It was turned away to look at anything but Bill. This was not what Dipper wanted at all. His innocence was being ripped from him and yet, he couldn't bring himself to stop Bill. It was pathetic, honestly, the way that his bottom lip began to tremble and his hands -still clutching the forearm of the hand doing this horrible thing to him- were shaking. Why was he so distraught? He knew that this wasn't out of love like he wanted it to be. It was a big joke for Bill, and that killed him inside.

Shamefully, he was getting hard from the rough pumping because it was Bill. He was not in the right state of mind for this. When he came, it was virginally quick and thick. He clamped his eyes shut and tried to stop himself, but he cried. That was not he wanted, not one bit. A disgusting, sticky feeling was left on his underwear as Bill pulled his hand away. Dipper dreaded looking at Bill or hearing his voice. He just wanted to curl into a ball of self loathing and never come out. 

Bill had other plans, however. He grabbed hold of Dipper's shirt and wiped his release on it. After watching the body beneath him shake with sobs that he didn't understand, he asked irritatedly, "Why would that make you react like this?" His words just made Dipper angry on top of being upset and he glared at Bill through tear clouded eyes.  
"Because, I know you're just messing around with me! I-I actually think I might like you, but I know you'll never like me back..." He took a deep breath and shoved Bill away from him as he climbed off the bed with pain and uncomfortable squishing from his leg and underwear. "To have you touch me like that when you hate me is degrading and it hurts. You wouldn't understand any if that, would you?" 

Dipper pulled his pants up and stood there, holding the desk chair for support awkwardly. He hadn't thought this through in the least and he wasn't going to be able to make it to the Mystery Shack (where he didn't even want to be) without ripping his leg off in the process. Bill's house (where he also didn't want to be) left him a bitter choice of no choice. He was stuck.

"Your feelings are too complicated and stupid. What is love, huh? You humans made up a pretend thing to worship. 'Oh, isn't love so beautiful? Isn't it so pure and innocent?' Love is nothing but lust with twice as many lies." He wanted to punch Bill's grinning face but instead he asked, as non-depressed sounding as he could with his eyes averted, "Whatever. Can I... use your shower?" 

"Go right on ahead. I'll even let you slide into a pair of my underwear when you get out.~" Dipper hated himself so much in that moment because he realized that he had fallen for someone who would never see him the way he wanted, yet again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was sad. Even Mysterious Mr.K shed a few tears when spellchecking. More to come. Hope I didn't make this a little too upsetting.


	23. Please

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello~ so! My guess for how long this story may end up being is around 50 chapters. Hope you're in for the long haul. Enjoy!

Is it so wrong to love someone who hates you? Dipper wished for the answer to be 'yes' and that everything was devoid of purpose without the return of said feelings. Because it felt as though it was.   
He had finished up in the shower and found underwear, sweat pants, and a T-shirt laid out on the bathroom counter, waiting for him. They were all too long on him but he didn't care. He didn't care about a lot of things now that it had become apparent his life was destined to be filled with pain and loss.

It couldn't even be excused due to him simply being a dramatic teen. He found that, along the way this summer, something had gone horribly wrong. He had fallen hard and unpadded for Bill Cipher, who had bluntly stated that he was only interested in his body and seeing just how far he could push Dipper until he couldn't go on. That was fun for him. What Dipper felt was nothing but more skin to burrow inside of and sink his teeth into. Had he expected this to happen? Was this his way of revenge?

Mrs. Waters happened to run into him on her way out of one of the many mysterious rooms in the hall leading up to Bill's room and gave his shoulder a reassuring pat.   
"Thank you. You managed to get Jimmy back. He told me that you were having problems at home. You can spend the night if you'd like." He tried to give her a smile but he imagined it was awful. He never had been good at hiding how he really felt. She accepted it without the slightest bit of wonder and pointed him to a spare bedroom at the beginning of the hall, furthest from her son's room, whether it was intentional or not.

It looked like Bill's room- before he had coated the walls with pictures of Dipper and his blood. Plain. Bland. The room consisted of a queen-sized bed draped in grey sheets and black pillows, a cactus in the back left corner, and a small night stand. A lamp stood atop the stand as the only source of light besides the window above the headboard.

He sat on the edge of the bed with a tired sigh but looked back to Mrs. Waters as she lingered in the doorway. "Should I call one of your uncles and tell them that you're spending the night? They'll probably be worried, even if they are in a bad mood, if you don't come home tonight without speaking to them." He wanted to laugh and tell her bitterly that they didn't really care about where he was. If Stanford was truly looking for him, as Mabel had text him a bit ago, wouldn't Bill's house be the first place he would check? Instead, Dipper pulled out his phone to show her that he was calling his uncles. "I'll call them! Eh... So don't worry about it." She nodded with a smile and started pulling the door closed, "Alright." Then, she called loud enough for both Bill and Dipper to hear from their rooms, "Don't stay up too late, boys!" 

Dipper listened as her shoes clicking against the hardwood floor grew quieter before the sound of her closing a door on the second floor could be heard faintly. He was alone... And entering a state of mind far from predictive; a bitter resolve that he would call his mom. She was a strict woman but, when he couldn't turn to Mabel, she was a fair listener and would speak her mind and her opinion.

The phone rang, and rang... But she didn't answer and he got her voicemail asking him to leave a message. With a sigh, he waited for the beep before saying stiffly, "Hey, mom. You're busy and stuff and probably still at work now that I think about it- Sorry. I just wanted to give you a heads up that I'll be coming home early. Yep. Mabel wants to stay the whole summer, though, so don't count on her being with me. But yeah... I'll call you back when I figure out when I'll be leaving. Well, bye." Uhg. Leaving a message was almost as awkward as talking on the phone.   
That was that then... Fight or flight? Dipper had chosen flight. At least this way he'd be far away from Bill and would be able to get over him. It had worked easily enough for Wendy, after all. His great uncles wouldn't need to flip out over the very thought of him having feelings for Bill and everything would eventually grow dull and dim like the room he was in.

Turning off the lamp, Dipper crawled under the sheets and tried to sleep. 'Tried' being the keyword. The pillow was uncomfortable and he shifted about for several minutes, trying to find a more appreciative position but none were to be had. He groaned and picked up the pillow to fluff it up a bit when something dropped out of the case.

"What the-" he reached over and turned the lamp on to see what it was and he stared down at a butcher's knife in utter confusion. What was a knife doing in a pillow case? Was it Georgina Waters' secret weapon for protection in case her son came after her one day? Or maybe it was Bill's hiding place? Dipper wouldn't put it past him if there were a dozen weapons in every room of the house, hidden and waiting to be used at his disposal.

The silence grew louder around him as his eyes traced the outline and curves of the blade. It could do a substantial amount of damage, raggedly ripping through flesh in one blow alone...

A parasite appeared. A black worm, sticky with sludge, wiggled it's way out from under the blade. "Why abandon your whole summer? Wouldn't that be letting him win?Instead of running, fight like a man. Kill him with this knife." It spoke inside his head, with his voice, but it was not his own thoughts. He vaguely remembered that killing was not a good idea but he couldn't recall why, if their had ever been and reason to begin with. 

"He's a horrible person and will never return your feelings. He molested, shot, and punched you- not to mentioned threatened to kill your sister. Isn't that a good enough reason?" He glared and snatched up the knife and parasite that wiggled in his grip and made his palm slick with black goo.

He trudged down the dark hall and tugged Bill's unlocked bedroom door open. Bill sat on the floor with his eye closed and a magic circle drawn in chalk on the hardwood floor around him. Dipper smeared the white powder and broke the circle with his foot and, as he expected, the parasite shriveled up and died. Bill opened his eye slowly and Dipper took notice of the black bruising around his eyelid that had been previously been covered by an eyepatch and of the thick black string stitching the empty lids closed together.

There was no sympathy for the devil at the moment, however, and Dipper dropped the knife noisily to the floor with a glare "I'm not going to kill you. Just give it up already." He turned to leave when Bill called quickly,

"Please."

'Please'? Dipper hadn't thought that word was in Bill's mental dictionary, like Grunkle Stan. He turned back to meet the miserable expression that seemed so out of place on the sarcastic face. Dipper was not about to relieve him of the pain of being human... Not yet. He turned back around and sluggishly limped back to the room he was staying in.  
The pillow was a lot softer without a knife under it, but now he lay staring at the roof above him with so much more on his mind than before. He wondered what Bill was thinking about down the hall, now that he was alone. He wondered if it was even considered justifiable to deny death to someone as chaotic as Bill Cipher even if such misery continued to exist because of his own decision.   
Is it wrong to hate someone you love?

He didn't sleep that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes... And so the angst continues... And shall continue for a bit more.


	24. Dreary

The sun was just barely beginning to show it's rays in the form of the faintest grey blue appearing over the tree line though the window above the bed.

Dipper regretted opening the window the night before as the cool morning air crept in and made his nose irritatingly cold. What's done is done. He was awake, and awake he would stay. Taking a deep breath, he sat up and looked over the unfamiliar room blankly. A sleepless night was followed by unfocused thoughts that bounced from lazily telling his body to get up to yelling at him to bury deeper into the sheets... But it was all a minuscule buzzing sensation in the very back of his mind compared to the swollen, cancerous images of the night before that consumed the forefront of his thoughts. It still throbbed in his skull, still hurt like the moment it had happened.

The floor creaked soundly as Dipper's legs made contact with the wood and he carefully stood from the bed. Surprisingly, his leg felt better. Not miraculously so, but the damage of his short run and long walk the day before had little effect on his stitches. Instead, a somewhat soothing warmth had come from the burning in his muscles the day before. He rubbed carefully over his thigh before going to the door and pulling it open.

His clothes laid, folded in the hall, right outside the room he was staying in. Mrs. Waters had washed them, he thought as he picked them up. He cringed at the thought of her seeing the stains. Then again... Bill could have washed them. But that was a stretch and most likely the curse of wishful thinking. 

Mechanically, Dipper went through the process of changing in the bathroom. He folded the borrowed clothing and left it where he had found it the night before, on the countertop. 

The grey and dreary light of the house was already enhanced by the silent dimness of early mornings. His numbing feelings added to it tenfold as he slowly and quietly made his way out of the house. He wouldn't look back because he wasn't going backwards. From that point on, everything that had happened to him that summer would be the past, never to be gazed upon fondly, and never to be repeated or spoken of.

There are some things you can't do though, no matter how hard you try and, by the time Dipper had reached the end of the street in the dim light, he was sputtering off into an uncontrollable sob. Still, he trudged on. He would continue, even though it hurt so much. After all, it had been his fault in the first place for being such a freak and loving demon.  
A car was coming down the road behind him, but it slowed to a crawl as it approached, flashing it's headlights. Dipper ignored it and wiped at his eyes as the car came alongside him. It was Stanley's car.

The passenger window rolled down and Stan's voice came out, sympathetic yet demanding,  
"Get in." Dipper turned his head away and bit his lip as his body shook with quiet sobs. After a moment, he said  
brokenly, "Just leave me alone." But Stan wasn't one to take no for an answer. "Get in the damn car right now!" The anger in the words hit like an ocean wave on a beach, almost knocking him over and successfully causing him to stop walking.

Dipper slid into the passengers seat wordlessly and kept his blurry eyes on the window as he tried desperately to stop crying. His great uncle didn't say anything as they pulled away from the curb and started slowly down the dark road toward the Mystery Shack.

"Anyone that makes you cry is overrated." "Grunkle Stan, shut up." He was only surprised by his own words for a second, but they didn't seem to surprise Stan all as he continued with the same awkward frustration. "I'm serious. No one is worth your tears. You're a decent kid and you're a Pines so, in a few years- when you get some facial hair and muscles- you'll have people practically jumping down your pants, wanting to get some of you!"

Horrible, horrible choice of words. Dipper's lip trembled and he clamped his eyes shut, chanting in his head 'Just forget. Just forget. Just forget.' But the memory of Bill rubbing him roughly through his underwear with that blank, unfeeling expression on his face had Dipper burring his head deep into his hands and yanking harshly on whatever they grabbed.

When Dipper began to cry even more, Stan cast an unsure expression his way before looking back to the dirt road that would soon lead to the Shack. He wasn't comfortable handling the bundle of nerves and feelings that Dipper had become and wished he could just make the poor kid go back to his awkward nerdy self.

The Mystery Shack was still dark, as expected. Stan said, as lightly as he could, "Hey, we're back so stop crying already." Dipper took two long hiccup-inducing breaths and practically crawled out of the car.

Right. The first step to moving on... What was it again? Wanting to move on was probably the thing he needed to work on first because there was so much in him that didn't want to give up on Bill. The thought that, if he only hung on a little longer, he would reach that stone hidden behind Bill's ribs and- That would never happen. The problem was in Bill's head. He only saw what he could gain from messing with Dipper, who had the mind to go back to the hellhole that was the Waters' house and dig that butcher's knife into Bill over and over until nothing was left but the blood on his hands. He wouldn't though, because he knew better, and he was both mentally and physically too weak to be even half the monster that Bill was.

Stan opened the unlocked backdoor and pulled Dipper along with him through the threshold and into the living room. The sun was finally coming up over the trees and helped navigation. Stan pushed him down into his chair a little too roughly and asked, "Are you hungry or something? You... Uh, wanna talk about 'feelings'?" He cringed at his own words and Dipper sent him a tired glare in response. 

"Fine with me. I'm gonna go take a power nap." He paused on his way out of the living room and turned, narrowed eyes on Dipper, "You aren't going to do something stupid like make a break for it again, are you?" Dipper shook his head and Stan's eyes narrowed even further, becoming mere slits on his face as he motioned that he had his eyes on him before disappearing through the doorway that led to the gift shop.

He watched the sun slowly bring more and more of it's light into the room and hunched further into himself as the sunlight touched and attempted to warm him. There was the sound of hurried footsteps coming down the stairs and he yanked his lolling head up just as Mabel flew into the room. She wore a concerned expression, but it eased when she saw that her twin was home, only to drop again once she noticed the bags under his eyes and the look of pain etched into his face.

"Dipper, what happened? You looked less dead before you left!" "Nothing happened. Nothing at all." Those were the words he was telling himself as well as Mabel. She came over to him, tugging his head against her chest as she gave him a tight hug. No, don't show him sympathy, don't show him pity. That would only make the pieces that he had started to pull together shatter once again and the fragments would be so much harder to collect and set into place this time around.

He nudged her, pushed her, and only when he shoved at her rather roughly did she let go. He gave her a serious and well managed frown to shut down the chain of questions that dangled on her parted lips and said determinedly, "Mabel, I'm going back home next week. You don't need to come with me, so don't worry." 

"What? You can't leave! There's still a whole month before summer is over! What am I suppose to do if you leave? What about our sixteenth BIRTHDAY!?" He didn't give a fuck about their birthday, but he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and gave her an apologetic smile, "Sorry Mabel. You still have your friends to hang out with, though. And you wouldn't your annoying brother around to ruin your sweet sixteen with his weirdness, would you?" 

Mabel was shocked but it slowly became anger. "What's wrong with you!? Of course I want you to ruin OUR sweet sixteen with your weirdness! Did Bill do something to you? You're acting stupid and not the Dipper kind!" She was being too loud for this time of morning. He tried to calm her down as she started to breathe heavily and hold back frustrated tears but she covered her ears, screaming to cover up his words. So he gave up on trying and just watched as her anger faded. Mabel sat, silently holding her ears and faced away from him. She was, no doubt, waiting for a retraction of his words.

As if to make matters worse, Stanley and Stanford appeared in the doorway, looking over the scene for the cause of the screaming. Their eyes landed on Dipper. He'd had enough of this. Yanking himself from the seat, he silently left the room. For once, Dipper didn't feel sorry for making his sister cry. He was actually angry at her for thinking that she had the right to be upset when he was dealing with something far worse than not having his sibling at their birthday.

He locked himself in the bathroom and sat in the tub. A few minutes passed and Melody tentatively knocked on the door, asking if he was okay.

He had begrudgingly left the safety of the locked bathroom, reassuring her that he was fine before sneaking out onto the roof where he stayed, boiling in the sun all day. At one point, as the sun began to fade into the trees, he had felt his phone ringing and people calling for him below. But he wasn't listening, he wasn't seeing, he was only feeling. And the feeling which he was managing to feel was a numbing amount of serenity in his decision before lapsing into an exhausted sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will divulge that my editor, Mysterious Mr.K was very upset when reading this chapter and I was slapped multiple times as K berated me for saying at the beginning that it was going to be a cute fluff story.
> 
> it still is a cute fluff, but if you get too sappy with demonxhuman love than it get's cheesy and sickening. Not realistic.
> 
> Angst, fluff, angst, humor, angst. Fluff.
> 
> Circle of life.
> 
> Surprisingly, this story is angst central right now, but it's sure to move along soon enough.


	25. Human Socialization

Dipper's eyes flew open, gasping for air as he woke up. What time was it? Where was he? When his blurring eyes managed to focus on something, the clock on the nightstand shouted in irritatingly florescent green lights that it was a little past midnight. He groaned and flipped his blankets as far from his peeling arms as he could.

Two days without a word to any sentient being had given him time to think and get rid of the worst of his sunburn. That's what he gets for thinking that the sun wouldn't try to turn him into a raisin if he didn't wear sunblock while under it's rays all day up on the roof. The downside to solitude was an ever growing loneliness and hopelessness.

He let his eyes shift lazily over to the window and the inky darkness of the night on the other side. It was so much more bleak than the night Bill had crept in and planted the seed; the idea that, yeah, maybe it was possible to love him. Maybe it was possible to be loved by-  
"No." He whispered faintly to the dark as the heels of his hands dug into his eyelids to block out the memory. Dwelling on it and thinking about it were each two steps away from the progress that he had already made. 

Like a desperate survivor of an avalanche digging themselves out of the snow, the cold would kill you before suffocation could if you didn't pull yourself from it's grip fast enough. He knew that, when he did break through, there would still be the ache of frost lingering in the air. 

There may also be a mountain of soft snow which he would have to climb and hope that he wouldn't fall back through before he reached the top.  
What would the view be like from there? When Dipper regained his sanity and no longer felt anything for Bill... What then? But he was only fifteen; that question wasn't fair. He would, of course, finish high school, go to college, get a job- What positive affect could the side of his brain that was having trouble letting go of Bill Cipher have on his life?  
None. 

Having won the battle against his own thoughts, the room fell into pure silence- excluding the slight mummer of the TV below. The cold was creeping in on him again, he needed to talk to someone- anyone.

Mabel wasn't in her bed, but that usual for this time of the week. Ducks 'n Trucks aired new episodes on Wednesday nights. He stood in the middle of the dark room for a long moment, taking in the last of his pain and swallowing it like a man. What had he even been doing with himself? Even if he was going to leave in a week, there was no reason to leave a trail of broken family relationships in his wake.

The light of the television and the muffled sound of the overly dramatic reactions to the bank robbery it displayed could be seen from the staircase. Dipper paused in the middle of taking another descending step and watched the light spilling into the dark hall for a long moment. He was anxious to reenter the lives of the people that loved him. Worried that the reason they had given him so much space to cool down was that they were tired of the selfishness he'd been showing over the last couple of weeks. 

There was an eruption of laughter from the living room as Grunkle Stan cackled about the teenager on the screen, apparently, finally getting punched in the face. Dipper slid down and sat on the steps above the living room. He was going to do it. 'Eh... But it's going to be so uncomfortable!' His brain screamed, scaring his stomach into jumping... Or maybe it was mad at him for not eating more than his shirt and a granola bar. 

The reminder of chewing on his shirt absentmindedly made him cringe and pull the still-damp hem away from his neck in disgust. Right, right, right. The living room. Lazily scooting down the last couple of steps on his butt, he stood with only a slight protest from his healing leg and braced himself as his awkward bedridden head and pajama clad body slowly slinked into the doorway of the living room.

Mabel noticed him and a small smile came to her face. She hesitantly patted the spot next to her on the floor that was covered in mounds of pillows and sprawled out sheets. Relief. Dipper cautiously made his way over and sat awkwardly in the blankets. She rubbed his face in her own special way of saying 'Water under the bridge' before giving him a soft, worried, and pleading look. She wanted to comfort him, to say that she was sorry, but most of all, she wanted to have him stay the rest of the summer. She didn't speak a word of Bill in hopes that he would soon get over whatever had happened and change his mind about leaving Gravity Falls. 

They all watched as the duck-tagonist on the television flipped a table twice his size, shielding himself and the hostages from the gunfire of a corrupt agency. Nothing outside the room mattered. Nothing inside the people surrounding him mattered. Just the journey of a wayward duck flashing before their eyes. Dipper flinched, however, when something appeared near his head. He quickly looked over to the intruding object to see a plastic bowl full of popcorn. It was being offered down to him by a six fingered hand.

When Dipper chanced a glance beyond that hand, he found Stanford seated on a chair from the kitchen. A smile was slowly slipping from his lips but he was trying to keep it up, resulting in a sort of sneer and a burning look in his eyes. He was obviously not okay with what had happened before and Dipper knew that he would rake the whole story from him one way or another.

Not now, though. Stanford's eyes quickly fell back to the screen as he stated out loud that he could see the wires on one particular actor who was being thrown across the room. Soos and Mabel both protested that Ford was taking the magic and art of cinematography. Dipper would be questioned about what had happened and he felt in his gut that there was a ninety percent chance he would lie or leave a lot out. But that would be some other time. This was the time to take a break, not to ask questions. Questions such as, was anyone planning on waking Melody before the end of the episode, or why was Grunkle Stan was wearing a sawed off handcuff.

It was a familiar sensation that felt as though it had been gone for so much longer than it had. Dipper was smiling with true happiness. To belong with this group of people once more settled his nerves and he allowed himself to sync his eyes on the bright screen in the dark room.

Dipper would be back to normal in no time at all... But that very thought stung his throat unpleasantly.


	26. Like A Rubberband

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello~ lots of busy life things happening so I may have to start updating twice a week or once a week but that is only a maybe for the time being.
> 
> Anywho~ enjoy!

"Mabel, did you even ask her if it was alright for us to come over?" This question was a critical one. Mabel thought it over before turning to Dipper with a wide smile, "Nope!" which he returned with a frown as he slid his shirt on. 

"Then count me out. One of the things Pacifica hates the most is unexpected visitors." He looked himself over in the bathroom mirror. Huh. Sleep didn't look half bad on him. And combined with taking a shower? He looked like a Dipper. But, man... Had his nose always been that pink? It was a really irritating thing to notice.

From her spot in the doorframe of the bathroom, Mabel laughed dismissively. "She just pretends that she doesn't like them!" "No, Mabel... I'm pretty sure that when you jumped out of her horse's water troff two weeks ago, yelling 'surprise,' her scream of bloody murder was not pretend." 

There was another brief moment of contemplation and, seeming not to have a counter argument, Mabel switched tactics. Embedding a frown on her face, she blocked the doorway to the bathroom as Dipper tried to pass through. "Dipper, c'mon! You've barely hung out with me all summer and, before that, you were all depressed and stuff... What happened to the old Dipper?"

Dipper sighed and gave her a reassuring smile. "You're right. I kinda miss you, even though you're right here in front of me. Let's go give Pacifica a heart attack!" In his mind, a voice slandered him for pretending that he was excited but he ignored it in favor of watching Mabel's grin grow as she raised her fist for a bump. "Mystery Twins?" His knuckles collided with her's and he nodded, "Mystery Twins."

The day was hot but a strong breeze helped to keep it at a moderately warm temperature. As Mabel and Dipper walked along the path into town, his eyes wandered over the memorized treetops that swayed above them. The scent of pine brought back so many images of previous summers in Gravity Falls. He would miss it, he really would.

"What'd you say?" His head turned back to his twin, "I didn't say anything." That earned him a confused look as Mabel's walk slowed to a stop to listen carefully. "I heard someone say something." They waited a moment before she gave a laugh, "It must have just been the wind." That was a lie. They had both heard something off in the woods, murmuring like a conversation. But they were not looking for mysteries or monsters right then, they were striving for normalcy.

They trucked on until they reached the new Northwest mansion. Even after loosing a lump sum of their fortune, their new location was a three story home that's width was greater than it's height. It had a large side yard with a built-in pool, while the space out back housed the one horse Pacifica had been allowed to keep after the the downgrade. She had become very fond of Alexander (her horse) and would spend most of the day with him.

There was no gate to hold them out, which Dipper appreciated whether it was on purpose or because they simply couldn't afford it. Either way, he was glad that the Northwests couldn't shut people out anymore. Mabel rung the doorbell and the both of them waited as the long chime echoed throughout the inside of the house.

The door came open to reveal Pacifica who's surprise fell to irritation.

"Don't you Pines have anything better to do than stalk me?" Dipper frowned. She rolled her eyes and took a step to the side to let them in. "Whatever, just hurry up and come in before someone sees that I'm letting you in." It wasn't hard to catch the smile that played on her face as she turned away to lead them further into the house. They had visited a few times over the last three years. Pacifica was friends with them, but she seemed to like to pretend that they were just bothering her.

She led them through the house to the back door as she slipped on a pair of purple and white gloves. "You guys came at the same time as my three o'clock ride with Alexander, so stay if you want, but we need at least twenty minutes of riding time. You could just leave, though."

"We'll wait! Hey, and maybe when you're done we can get some garlic fries at the mall!" Both Dipper and Pacifica cringed at the suggestion. Garlic fries were delicious, but left the tang of garlic on the consumers tongue for what seemed like twenty-four hours. "Uh... Yeah, 'maybe'." The blonde said slowly before leaving them on the back deck to fetch her proud white steed from the stable.

With a heavy sigh from Dipper's lips, they both sat on the wood bench and watched as the strong horse's legs pumped faster and faster. Pacifica was obviously showing off how well she could control him. When they got further away, Dipper spoke up. "Should we ditch her?" This, apparently, was not a view shared by Mabel who turned to him with wide eyes. "No, Dipper! Jeez, you're still grumpy? Not to worry brother o' mine! When we get to the mall, I'll teach you how to stop being a muddy blanket." A muddy blanket? Was she mixing metaphors again? He glared at the acreage, hunching even more into himself as he rested his chin in his hand. "Wow. Thanks, Mabel." 

"You're welcome~" There was a pause in conversation, a moment when they both thought of the subject on which they had silently committed to avoid. They watched Pacifica reach the lining of trees far away from where they were at the back of the house and turned to circle around and come back.

There was a buzz in Dipper's pocket and he jumped in panic and surprise but did not make a move to pull his phone from his pocket. Dread. An ache in his chest and an itch in his fingers to reach for it. It buzzed again and he cringed. Should he look at it? 

"Are you going to get that, or..." Mabel smiled at her brother's weird reaction and he looked to her as if the mere suggestion was blasphemy. "I..." No. He wouldn't mention Bill. He would not tear an opening for others to poke their curious eyes into his personal matters.

When he fell silent Mabel huffed and picked up her own phone to show him the picture of Soos's perfect sandwich that he had just made himself. The caption under it read ["Jealousy is not a crime, dude."] "It's just Soos. He probably sent it to everybody." 

Oh, right... He had forgotten that there were days when more than one person had wanted to text him. That didn't happen very often, honestly. Mabel gave him a sympathetic look and was about to most likely give him advice that he would automatically shut down with 'Can we talk about something else?' But the horse was coming back to the stable now and his sister's attention easily moved from him to the well bred horse with lushes locks. That was fine with him.

The mall was crowded with faces that were vaguely familiar but no one that Dipper had actually talked to. Just the blurred faces of people he had passed hundreds of times, as was common in relatively small communities. Loud conversations surrounded him, including the one between the two girls who he sat at the table with.

On cue, he laughed at Pacifica's annoying story about how funny it was that her parents had misheard her when she asked for a Corvette for Christmas and had gotten her a Ferrari. Mabel was telling her about the twins' plan to save up for a car that they could share until they got jobs. It had both surprised and horrified Pacifica to think that most kids have to buy their own cars, but she gave them props for attempting to get their own.

Dipper picked at his order of garlic fries absently and listened to most of the conversation, spiraling into a pit of girlish glitter. His thoughts seemed to trail over his last argument with Ford and wondered when the older Pines would want to yell at him again. 

"So what mysteries have you been geeking out over this summer?" Was she talking to him? He dropped the soggy fry back into the flimsy and brightly colored cardboard tray as he looked to Pacifica dumbly. She was watching him expectantly so he logically assumed that the question had been directed at him.

"O-oh, you know... Normal stuff- weird-normal of course. Like... Um... Yeah." The smile he plastered on his face did little to ease the strain in his words and he cursed inwardly how awkward he was. Mabel shook her head with a sigh while Pacifica looked him over like he was the freak he felt like. The platinum blonde took a loud slurping drink from her food court soda before saying, with the utmost amount of sarcasm, "Real nice. Normal weird stuff is totally not annoyingly vague. For real though. Like, is there something going on with Gravity Falls again?"

Her tone shifted to a seriousness that neither Pines had expected. Mabel patted her arm with a laugh as she tried to bring the conversation back out of the danger zone that it seemed to be dropping into. "I don't think it's going to get any weirder than Dipper making out with his pillow in his sleep last night. Am I right or am I right?" 

Mabel was shut down as Dipper leaned over the table slightly to inspect Pacifica's eyes. They held no indication as to what she was aiming at with the ominous question. He ventured warily, "Why do you ask?"

"Okay- I'm not crazy, alright? But I keep feeling the ground all over town stretching then becoming super small before slapping back by some kind of rubber band or something." Huh... Raising interest gathered in Dipper's head and a small smile fluttered on his face before he pushed it away. He looked on with skeptical eyes as he took in the idea she suggested. "Did anyone else feel it?" 

"I don't think so- They're all too dumb and stupid to know what's going on around them." "I actually think I heard on the news that they've been having unexplainable earthquakes..." Mabel butted in but hesitated as she thought it over seriously and wondered out loud to herself, "Or was it milkshakes..." With a shrug, she finished with a smile. "I don't remember the details, but Mayor Tyler said that it was nothing to be afraid of, blah blah blah- they're building a swing set for the park this week!" 

This seemed a little sticky to Dipper and the craving to investigate held his arm painfully. But then he remembered his limited time left and slumped slightly, giving Pacifica a mournful look, "It's probably nothing dangerous and Mayor Tyler says to just forget about it. So maybe you should just ignore it."

Suddenly, the rich blonde stood with a loud squeak of her metal chair on the polished linoleum. Her eyes cut into Dipper's fiercely as she collected her purse and huffed angrily. "What's up with you? I thought you, of all people, would want to find out what's going on. But clearly you think you're too good for it, so whatever." She stomped off, her heels clicking angrily in her wake but Dipper had seen the furious blush of embarrassment. He now slumped even further into his chair and internally ridiculed his blunt rejection of her investigation. Mabel called after her, "But you didn't finish your garlic fries!" 

She sighed heavily and sat back in her chair with a deep frown. Dipper looked away. "I didn't mean it to sound like that. I just..." "I know, but Dipper. You've gotta get out of this weird funk you're stuck in. It's really bumming everyone out." 

The mall buzzed about their silent table, the stench of garlic clinging to them unpleasantly. No amount of toothpaste when they got home would get rid of the awful taste but Dipper would be the only one with regrets.

"Are you really going to leave without me?" She had said it in such a quiet voice that Dipper almost hadn't heard it. "Yes..." Now Mabel stood and, when Dipper looked up, he was surprised to see that she was smiling at him.

"Then we better fit a month's worth of summer into today and tomorrow!" Yeah... Why not? He stood with a hesitant smile of his own as she took up his arm and dragged him away without waiting for a response. 

These last days in Gravity Falls would be interesting, if nothing else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Garlic fries are kinda like Bill; Dipper thinks their super delisious but they always leave him with a bitter taste in his mouth.


	27. Snow White

This was not a good idea, definitely not a good idea. Dipper grabbed at the rusty car door that he, Mabel, and Waddles were strapped to via boat rope. It teetered noisily over the side of the hill, the metal from the spaceship beneath the thin layer of grass and dirt screeching against their makeshift sled.

"Mabel, I changed my mind! I-I don't want to do this any-" His protest became a scream as Mabel pushed them forward with an excited yell of 'whoops!' They plunged down the side of the steep mound and straight into the lining of trees. Definitely a bad idea. They jumped off just before the door smashed into the old truck they had torn it from.

Dipper laid out where he had tumbled and stared up through the tops of the trees, taking deep breaths as he went through the process of rethinking his life choices, yet again. That could have seriously injured the three of them, and yet Mabel shouted "Success!" from where she and waddles had ended up.

Taking one last steadying breath, he sat up and brushed the grass from his hair. His back hurt, but he ignored it in place of watching his sister stumble to stand up. She swung her unscathed pig around in a circle as she laughed. The sight made his face break out into a smile and he got up with little to no grimace.

If this was to be his last full day in Gravity Falls, Mabel had taken it on as her responsibility to make it the 'funnest' day they could have together. So far, they had managed to collect quite a few scrapes and bruises that had been doused in glitter glue and bandages. An ache in Dipper's thigh from running around told him that now was the time for a much needed break.

"Jam and biscuits!"

The twins looked up to the top of the metal hill at the loud exclamation and saw Stanford. He was shoving the rock that hid the entrance to the ship out of the way, his head poking out from the ground. He turned and saw them at the bottom of the hill and yelled down to them, "Kids, didn't I tell you to make sure that the rock _didn't_ cover the entrance while I was down there!?" 

Mabel cupped her mouth and yelled back, "It was in the way of our sled, so I moved it over!" Dipper stared at his sister in shock. He hadn't even realized that they had sealed their great uncle in the alien coffin when he'd helped Mabel move the rock. Blushing in embarrassment and guilt, he called up to his mentor. "Sorry, great uncle Ford!" 

They trekked back up the steep hill, abandoning their junky, hillbilly sled by the forgotten, weedy truck. They watched as Stanford pulled himself from the hole and brushed himself off. He sighed, before dragging a smile up on his prickly face and extending his sack of looted parts for them to take a look at. 

Inside where a few panel parts and test tubes with otherworldly colored liquids. "I just grabbed a few parts I'll need for my next project- which I like to call 'Project Snow White'." Dipper's mind fluttered at the possibilities that name could imply. Sleeping gun, maybe? Mabel's hand shot up enthusiastically and Stanford pointed to her as if he were answering a student's question in a classroom instead of a trio standing on top of a UFO.

"Question. Does this project give you the ability to control woodland animals and make them do all your chores?" Huh, that was a possibility. But Stanford shook his head. "That's a good guess, but no. It's still in the idea stage, ergo I might change a few things. But it will basically be a box, about the size of an apple, that produces a fume when introduced to carbon dioxide. It will cause the nearby emitter of that CO2 to have extreme nightmare-like hallucinations before falling into a light and comfortable sleep until the box shuts off." He paused a moment, thinking this over as he pressed a button on his watch to close the hatch of the spaceship. He added, more as a note to himself than to his niece and nephew, "I'll have to rig some kind of timer to it. Hmmm..."  
"That's kinda scary sounding. Why would you even need something like that?" Dipper said carefully, making sure he didn't step on any toes. Ford shrugged, guiding them back down the hill. "There is absolutely no reason whatsoever to build such a dangerous device. But don't you think it would be awesome to do it anyway?"

The feeling that Dipper felt when his uncle uttered those words was happiness. Happiness because there was someone who thought so similarly to him. He gave Stanford a serious look as he said simply, "Yes."  
Mabel ran ahead of them when the Mystery Shack came back into view, Waddles close at her heels and squealing happily as they charged through the main entrance. Dipper started to mount the steps but Stanford caught him by the arm and pulled him back gently. He looked to his great uncle in confusion who simply responded by pulling Dipper's journal from his coat pocket and silently offering it back to him.  
Dipper took it hesitantly, meeting the wary, aged eyes tucked behind glasses that held a comforting warmth.

"Forget about the things I said before; compassion is part of who you are. I don't want you to change that about yourself just to deal with that demon, Bill Cipher." Here he took a deep breath in and said a little more awkwardly, "I would like you to stay the rest of the summer and study him more- With my supervision, of course. Your journal held a lot of excellent notes." 

Ford wanted him to stay? The hint of begging in his voice thrilled and scared the younger Pines and he stood there for a long moment before responding stiffly. "But, my bus leaves tomorrow morning. Stan already bought my ticket." 

"Never mind that. I want your insight, your knowledge and understanding of Bill." Dipper hesitated, biting his lip. The very idea that Stanford was giving his journal and himself serious thought was and ultimate honor... But to be thrust back into Bill's path of pain left him unsure and panicked.  
"I..." His phone interrupted him with the loud chime of 'Disco Girl' playing from his back pocket. His eyes went wide much like Ford's had and he quickly dug his phone out to turn it off, saying with a nervous laugh that Mabel had changed his ringtone.   
His laugh, however died when he saw Bill's number on the screen. He had never called him. Never. The demon preferred texting, as Dipper had observed. What was he suppose to do? Hang up? Answer? He took several steps away from the Shack's porch and his great uncle before pressing the talk button.

"Hello...?" There came the loud sounds of banging and slamming along with screams that were unmistakably Bill's. Only after another door slamming did a shaky and distraught voice enter the line. ["Dipper! Thank god. P-please listen to me. James says he's dying, he needs a doctor- But if I bring him to the hospital, they'll lock him away from me!"]

Dipper's mind started to slow as he tried to process all that Mrs. Waters was hysterically shouting at him. He managed a confused "What?" She was chanting something under her breath that sounded like 'keep calm, keep calm,' before she said quickly, ["Bring your uncle who's a doctor, please, Dipper!"]

Then she hung up.

She hung up... 

Shit.

"Dipper, who was tha-" He spun around suddenly, "We have to go, now! I think Bill's trying to kill himself!" The words chilled him when he said them out loud, but he pushed that aside as he and Stanford ran to the car.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rushing. Hope you liked it!


	28. Euphoric State

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back to where we left it so abruptly last time~ enjoy!

Everything seemed to move so fast. Or maybe, it was just that Dipper felt as though he was moving particularly slow. He and Stanford ran up the stairs of the Waters' house as Mrs. Waters tried to explain what she had seen in her son's room.

"He was groaning and ripping his shirt to shreds! I-I have no idea what's gotten into him!" Stanford instinctively pushed Dipper behind him as they neared the bedroom. He didn't protest, for lack of thought had made his brain partially numb. Under the door shown the light of a fire and, when Ford forced the door open, what greeted them horrified Dipper... But it also made his chest heave in an awkward, confused jump. There was a festering sickness that cursed him to feel a relief upon seeing Bill once more.

The pictures on the wall were slowly burning, the fire on each photo of him never joining to eat the other pictures. Instead, they maintained their separate smolders until their designated Dipper was completely obliterated.

Among the flames stood a disshuffled and badly postured Bill. His hands were red with blood, collecting under his nails that had broken through the tips of his gloves after having clawed at his own chest. Blood coated the gashes.

The moment Stanford entered the room, Bill's listless expression broke into an angry smile and the fires abruptly distinguished themselves as he took a seat in his desk chair.

"If it isn't 'ol Sixer! Come to dissect me?- Oh! Or maybe you've come to 'destroy me'." His last words were accompanied by his hands forming air quotes. He laughed as he kicked his legs over one arm of his chair, his head resting on the other.

Stanford's fists clenched at his sides as he took in the burned photos of Dipper and the demon so casually swinging his arm over the side of the desk chair, but he would not attack him or yell at him... Yet. He chanced a glance back at Dipper and Mrs. Waters, finding that his grand nephew was forcing himself to stare at the back of his coat, avoiding the sight of Bill. Stanford would be calm for Dipper's sake.

"Not this time, Bill. I've been called in to stop you from killing yourself. What did you do? Swallow a bottle of pills like a coward!" A shrill laugh escaped the demon and he looked over Ford's shoulder to his mother. "Please, I'm not the one who's taking too many pills." 

Mrs. Waters clenched her fists in embarrassment and stomped away from the room. Dipper hesitantly took her place in the doorway, his eyes remaining fixed on the ground. Bill's laughter died as his eyes landed on Dipper.

"Besides, I couldn't have achieved this euphoric-like state of agonizingly slow, painful burning in my chest before the ritual of death rips my soul from this meat slab without this guy~!" He pointed bluntly at Dipper, who felt the unhealthy amount of sarcasm with a side of bitterness which was dished out to him. Stanford only paused for a moment before yanking the lengthy blonde up from his overly comfortable position. The sight of the irritated frown on Bill's face almost made Stanford clobber him, but he held himself back. This was a chance to study his enemy.

"Sit still." Ford began to medically examine Bill, starting with disinfecting the gashes on his chest. They were patched up with medical tape, as it was all Ford had on hand. Dipper was watching intently as Bill told 'Fordzy' that he needed to take a breath mint if he was planning on being that close to his face. Ford had only angrily repeated the demand for him to sit still. That was when Bill cast a bland expression on Dipper. 

There was nothing that showed any change from the last time they were in that room together. Oh but Dipper's heart was young and stupid and clung like sap to delusions. Whatever Bill saw on his face made his nose scrunch up in disgust.  
The examination was over before they knew it. Stanford coughed irritably to snap the teens from their uncomfortably drawn out staring contest. "Don't hold back, Dr. Smarty Pants~ How long do I have?" Bill asked gleefully. Dipper felt an unexpected shiver of anger run up his spine and clenched his fists as his great uncle announced the verdict of his several tests.

"Aside from not having enough calcium in your diet, you're a perfectly healthy adolescent teenage boy." That- though commonly a favorable response- was not what Bill wanted hear. The wicked smile that had started to formed crumbled and sent his lax sitting position into a ridged stance. "You are a horrible comedian, Stanford Pines. Stick to being an emotionally crippled would-be genius and- Stop doing that!" 

Dipper held his hands up in surprise as the demon's anger was randomly shot at him. "I'm not even doing anything! What's your problem!?" He turned to his uncle and saw him watching in a sort of bewildered confusion. He asked, a lot more snippily than he had intended, "Great uncle Ford can we leave now?"

With a long and tired sigh, the older Pines shrugged. "I don't see why there's any more of a reason to stay. This mission was a total bust." Here, Ford waved with a mock smile plastered on his face to Bill who's body was spasming strangely and his fingers moving in chaotic gestures against the air. "See you around, James." 

Stanford started out of the room that was covered in charred pictures with the grunt of "Come along, Dipper." Dipper let his glare slide from his face and he cast one more wary glance back to Bill with a puffed out chest and tightly sealed lips before turning to follow after his mentor. 

Bill reached out and captured him by his back pocket. He immediately stiffened and took a deep breath to call after his uncle for help, but Bill had turned him around and yanked his waist tightly to him. At first Dipper didn't register what was happening, only that Bill's face was too close to his own, and then the strange sensation of lips pressed firmly against his.

This was not like their previous fits of passion; it wasn't Bill forcing himself on Dipper, even as he seemed to want more than lips. The moment was but a mere four or five seconds and, when Bill pushed Dipper back with a disgusted glare, the brunette was left speechless and flushed. 

It burned. It burned him so badly, the sudden engulfing flame that Dipper had suffocated through lack of oxygen since Bill had toyed with his sanity. But Dipper felt the crawling of happiness in his chest and hated it. He hated everything about it and that's why... And that's why he-  
"Run along, Pine Tree." Bill demanded as he sat down on his bed heavily, wearing an almost listless expression. Dipper would need to take note in his journal that, with the addition of a nose and a mouth, one could actually recognize how often the demon's expression changed. He definitely did not need to write about the delicious feel of his lips pressed just hard enough. No, no. That was not for the journals, but he was sure that the kiss had earned a large door in the center of his mindscape.

"Uh, r-right! Yeah. Be I'll going- I mean, I'll be going now." That had been a flop. Coughing awkwardly as he backed out of the room, he took in Bill's face. It was slack and lost in thought, ignoring Dipper before adding with a confident frown of resolve, "I won't forget what you did."   
When Bill glanced up at him with a glint of a challenge in his eye, Dipper gave him a tight lipped expression that neither of them knew the meaning of and curtly said "See you later." 

Stanford was patting Mrs. Waters' back uncomfortably as the woman cried beside him in the first floor living room. He practically leaped from the couch when Dipper shuffled timidly down the stairs. No doubt, Stanford had an inkling as to what was happening between his great nephew and the bane of his existence, Bill Cipher. This situation was a disturbing and stressful one and Dipper wished in vain that this whole summer had been a nightmare that he would soon wake up from. Or, at least, he wished that he had packed his stress ball.

"Well, we'll be off now, Mrs. Waters. Take care." Ford announced as he practically shoved Dipper towards the front door. Georgina stood, dabbing at her eyes with her sleeve and following them to the door with a shaky sigh. "Goodbye, Dipper, Stanford. Have a good evening."  
The car drive back to the Mystery Shack was far less chaotic than the drive to the Waters' house. Stanford maintained a bitter expression as he mumbled about how much he wanted to wipe that disgusting grin off of Bill's face. Dipper, however, was in a completely deferent mindset. There were so many questions he had, but he had no idea how to find the answer to them. Why had Bill been so... Not Bill? The kiss hadn't been fueled by the idea of shoving his tongue into Dipper's mouth and overwhelming him so that neither of them could think. It had been something new and unexpected... Dipper's hand came up to his trembling lips and felt the unexplainable heat. The hand dropped back to his side as he turned his attention to his great uncle.

"Great uncle Ford, I... I think I'm going to stay after all." Dipper watched Stanford's creased, thick brows raise high on his forehead in surprise before settling into an almost prideful smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Important!
> 
> I will now be updating on Mondays and Saturatdays for at least one week. This will start next week and I will post once ever other day after I am satisfied I am enough chapters ahead of my posts.


	29. Spilt Milk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is no use crying over this chapter... You get it? Yeah, I'm corny. Enjoy!

The ceiling was leaking milk. The ceiling... Was leaking _milk_.   
Between Stanley and Dipper stood Soos and Melody, who's attentions were also locked onto the the puddle in the main hall of the Mystery Shack. 

"You see something new everyday, I guess." Melody offered, amusement muddle by confusion. Soos nodded, seeming to regard her comment as a wise testament to life. 

"I'm pretty sure it never did this when I lived here. Then again, I didn't notice those mushrooms growing on the ceiling. That is, until Soos tried to eat one and had to take time off for a 'medical emergency'." Dipper gave his Grunkle a disgusted glance before stepping forward.

"This is obviously coming from the attic bedroom, guys. I seriously doubt that the ceiling started doing this on it's own. Mabel probably just spilled something in our room." Soos narrowed his eyes. "I dunno, dude. I've seen some freaky stuff spill, ooze, and or crawl out of this building. Just sayin'."

Dipper could remember back to a time when Wendy had still worked at the Mystery Shack before taking up the family axe and becoming the first woman lumberjack of Gravity Falls. She had left behind one of the magazines that she pretended to read so customers wouldn't ask her for help. The next day, she tried to pry it from the counter only to find that some sentient version of moss had grown in between the counter and the paper book. That had given him a few dozen nightmares.

"I'll go upstairs and take a look." Dipper announced and walked past the hallway group. It wouldn't be the first time that Mabel had spilled a drink- or paint in their summer bedroom and he wasn't expecting to find anything other than a tipped over cup. 

Mabel had gone over to Grenda's house to splash around in her sizable inflatable pool. However, evidence of her recent presence in their room could be seen by the horrifying sight of the thick layer of clothing that coated the floor. He had just tidied up that morning before Mabel had come along and made this mess. 

"Whatever." Dipper told himself. He would just throw all of her things onto her bed and deal with it later. His first priority was finding the source of the leak.

There came the sound of glass breaking and he jumped back as he felt the crunch under his sneaker. Beneath the scattered clothes Dipper found, to his dismay, the shattered remains of a kitchen mug in a puddle of milk.

What had she been thinking? It was annoying enough that Mabel had left her clothes everywhere, but to forget the existence of her cup of milk and burry it under her clothes? 'Oh well.' He started to pick up armful after armful of his sister's sweaters, tossing them onto her bed. He left out the ones soaked in souring milk and the pile of glass with the intentions of fetching a broom and towels.

Dipper paused in front of the mirror on his way out of the room. He wasn't interested in the teen that was reflected in the mirror (well, maybe a bit as thoughts of his clone, Tyrone, surfaced) but the strange warped world it revealed. Everything was stretched and disfigured.  
And then, it snapped back into a normal reflection. 

It was almost like... 

"A rubber band."

Dipper's eyes widened and he touched the glass version of his own hand. That must have been what Pacifica had seen. A smile spread across both of his faces and he hurried down the stairs. The milk could wait, he needed to tell Stanford about this right away.

Stanford wasn't in his lab on the third floor of the basement, so Dipper tried his study on the second floor. But his great uncle wasn't there either. Dipper took out his journal from his hoodie's pocket. He wrote in the corner of the page (the one that he had written Bill's recent proclamation of being cursed by him on) that another anomaly was affecting Gravity Falls and he would try to gather more information on it.  
After he closed the vending machine, he called over to Melody, telling her that he was going out. She smiled and told him to have fun. 

Yep. Dipper was glad that he'd stayed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What could this new anomaly mean? What will it change? Will it do anything at all? Stick around to find out~


	30. Shaming Eyes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update! It's been really busy for me with school and what not but I will try my best to continue!

The day had been 'eh' to say the least. The wind couldn't make up it's mind on whether it wanted to be light, rough, or nonexistent. The sun, however, knew that it wanted to be nice to Dipper that day and held a steady shine that wasn't all that bad. 

He had decided on giving Bill some space because of how violent his mood swings had become lately and so devoted his time to this weird everything-stretching-in-mirrors thing. And where better to start his search for answers than with the only other person in Gravity Falls who had reported seeing it. 

He pulled out his phone as he walked into town and had just scrolled to Pacifica's contact when a text appeared at the top of his screen. 

Unknown Number: ["Where are you going?"] 

That was a little more than creepy. And no one did creepy better than Bill Cipher. Dipper glanced hesitantly over his shoulder but couldn't see him on the street or sidewalk, causing him to anxiously nibble on his lip. Wait, no. That had been the very thing that had gotten him tangled up in this mess in the first place. Instead, he pulled back from Pacifica's contact and sent a message of his own.

["None of your business."]

He heard a laugh and looked over his shoulder quickly, but Bill could not be seen. His phone was buzzing in his hand so he turned back.

["Oh really?"]

Now Dipper was irritated. He switched back over to the window with Pacifica's contact, pushing call, and holding the phone up to his ear. He felt the buzz of another text but didn't pull away to look. 

"If you want to talk to me, stop hiding and say whatever it is you want to say to me out loud." The woman passing him gave him a weird look but he ignored her as the ringing stopped. A voice greeted him through the phone, 

["Pacifica Northwest?"]

'Was that a question?' he wondered, but this call was a serious one so he refrained from teasing her. If he remembered right, he had dismissed her the last time she had brought this subject up. An apology was in order.

"Hey, it's Dipper Pines. Um, I'm really sorry about the way I acted a few days ago. I was really rude and kind of a major jerk." It was quiet on the other end making him wonder if she had hung up before he heard an irritated sigh. ["Yeah, you really were. But go on."] He sighed at himself as well and got to the point of the call.

"You were right. I want to meet up with you somewhere today. Are you free?" She huffed out a sarcastic laugh. ["No. My Dad is holding a dinner party tonight with the investors and he expects me to be there. It's bound to be another smooch fest between them, though. Honestly, it's all 'That suit looks superb on you.' and 'Not as fine as those slacks on you.' They should all, like, get a room."] Dipper cringed and she quickly added, ["Don't you dare tell anyone I said that!"] 

"Trust me, I don't want to even imagine that, let alone pass it on. How about some time tomorrow?" ["Sure. And Dipper?"] "Hm?" ["I'm glad you're not trying to be emo anymore. It really didn't work on you. Bye!"] The line went dead and Dipper glared at his phone. She always managed to have the last word, didn't she? 

A figure appeared alongside his aimless walking and Dipper glanced over even though he could already judge by the height and chaotic blonde hair that it was Bill. He couldn't read the demon's expression because he was on the side which only the eye patch and deathly pale skin greeted him but the air around him felt thick and thunderous.

He was nervous and not really sure what he should say but Dipper pushed through the tension and asked, "What do you want?" Dipper took note of Bill's hands twitching at his side as if itching to do something or maybe keeping the beat to an internal song.

"I want everything. Including all the information regarding that call you just made." Bill was completely himself and at the same time not himself at all. He held less of a sarcastic and humored voice. He was demanding information and posing it as if Dipper had no other choice but to offer it to him.

"I told you, it's none of your business." As they passed by Greasy's Diner, Bill reached into his pocket for a small card. "Oh, but it is! See?" The letters glue to it were cut from various magazines in the way a ransom note may be constructed. It simply said 'B. Cipher' and 'Dipper Pines co.' in fresh black marker that was still wet.

"This extremely valid form of business identification says that, in fact, you are my business. And that includes who you are planning to meet up with. Now, start talking." Dipper stared at the card before turning incredulously. "Did you make this in the time that I was on the phone just so that I couldn't say it wasn't your business?"

Bill dug his index finger into one of Dipper's redding cheeks, some of his usual tone coming back to his voice as he said in an overly confident tone, "It worked, didn't it~?" Before Dipper could protest, Bill swirled his finger around in the round cheek's red flesh then pulled him by the waist into the diner.

This resembled the kind of PDA that Dipper had always revolted way too much. He went rigid and arched his spine in hopes of putting distance from his lower back and Bill's hand but the hand stayed in place, pushing him through the door and into the wooden box of people he knew. 

Laughing nervously, Dipper turned around and pulled the hand away. Bill did not look amused. He tugged Dipper roughly by the arm to the nearest empty booth where he pushed him to sit before taking up the other side.

"You are the worst, Pinetree. You say you want me, but you reject everything I do." This took Dipper off guard. His eyes became the size of dinner plates, blush deepening once more as he fiercely corrected under his breath, "I never said- Not in that way! And I keep stopping you because you're only doing all of this to earn yourself points that you think you can exchange for s-sex!"  
He had said it. Dipper couldn't believe he had said that- and in public! If anyone else had heard, they showed no indications and that eased his mind a little. Lazy Susan approached their booth with ticket book and pen ready.

"What can I get for you..." she paused, looking over the both of them, "Red faced baby and the ghost of Jean Harlow?" Bill ignored her strange nicknames for them and browsed the menu briefly before handing it to her with an unimpressed attitude. "Bring the red faced infant the most disgustingly sugary thing you have- with a smile and shaming eyes, if that's an option." 

She wrote down the odd order with her tongue poking out in concentration as she tried to catch everything he said. When she had caught up, she asked, "And you?" "One of those mints in your apron pocket." She reached into her apron, pulling out a handful of straw wrappers and a single red and white mint still in it's plastic. "Well would you look at that. I didn't even know it was in there. You can have it, on the house!" 

When she had handed it to him, Bill turned back to Dipper and abruptly continued their previous conversation. "You want to have sex with me, kid. I've made you make those faces and you sure get excited when I touch-" Dipper screamed, covering at least a little of the conversation, but drawing everyone's attention. He shrunk into himself and quickly apologized, saying something about a spider scaring him.

With Lazy Susan gone, Dipper glared at the amused smile on Bill's thin lips and chanted, "I hate you, I hate you, oh I hate you so much." 

"Stop, you're making me blush." he responded blandly and the smile fell. "Seriously, Pinetree. Stop distracting me with your naughty thoughts and tell me what I want to know." Bill unwrapped the mint and popped it into his mouth, watching Dipper lick his dry lips subconsciously before begrudgingly beginning his explanation.

"I was just talking to Pacifica Northwest, okay? It's no big-" "About what." Whoa. Dipper met Bill's gold eye with surprise. Was it just him or was the anger that eye held completely uncalled for? "I apologized for being rude to her a couple of days ago and said that I wanted to meet up with her to talk about another anomaly I'm investigating." He said this slowly to keep from raising the demon's temper further, but a warmth settled into his stomach and he couldn't help but adding quietly, "No reason to be jealous." 

Bill smiled blandly and rested his face in his gloved hand. "Haha. That was funny. Oh wait, no it wasn't. Shut up while I'm still in a fairly good mood." Dipper obeyed, but didn't bother hiding the smile that had formed on his face. Bill was jealous. The symptoms were all there: irritation at the mention of another person, possessive touches, publicly alluding to them being in a relationship. Though, neither of them were entirely sure if whatever mess they were in could be considered a relationship. Even if Bill saw it more like someone had stolen his toy, which he assumed was the case, Dipper was happy.

Lazy Susan returned with... With something. She sat it in front of Dipper. "Enjoy!" She yelled before moving on to the both behind him with a cup of coffee. By the annoyingly pathetic voice, it was Toby Determined.

It was a Sundae. Maybe. Black speckled white ice cream with a banana standing straight up from it's melty depths, rainbow sprinkles, caramel, fudge, gummy bears, whipped cream, and a cherry balancing atop the banana. And who could miss the crudely illustrated smiley face made of zebra-striped chocolate chips. 

It's grin was faltering in the heat and sinking into a worried frown. Dipper could hear the voice of a little boy in his head ask innocently, 'You aren't going to eat me, are you, mister?' He assumed this was the voice he imagined the ugly ice cream to have and he glanced up at Bill who was watching expectantly. 'I want to be an astronaut when I grow up.' The ice cream added as Dipper reached for his spoon.

Curse his over active imagination! Was he really guilty about eating it because he imagined that it had his childhood aspiration? No. That was ice cream. Ice cream Bill had bought him. He turned the face away from him and smushed the banana down into it. The face was gone, making it easier to eat, but he still thought for a moment of his own insanity.

When Dipper was finished, Bill had left the exact amount for the meal, no tip. Dipper left a five for Lazy Susan on account that, in his mind at least, the two of them had caused her so many problems. They stepped into the cooling day which threatened to break away to twilight sooner than later. Bill was thinking. At least, that's what Dipper assumed as he hadn't spoken since he had been caught being jealous. Bill grabbed hold of his wrist as Dipper tried to start up walking and he stopped to look at the human face wrapped around the demon soul. If bodies were just shells, like Bill had told him that night in the crematory, he had to admit that Bill's was hot.

Heat spread across his face at the thought and he realized just how far the both of them were leaning in. Surprisingly, neither of them forced it to be a kiss and they slowly pulled away. Bill tucked his hand into his slacks and walked off with an annoyed expression on his face. 

Dipper was silent in the spot that Bill had left him before he felt his burning cheeks.

Was it okay for him to hope now?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So much fluff I'm choking. Hoped you liked it and look forward to more~!


	31. Jealousy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! It's a bright and cloudless night where I am and I can see the Big Dipper from my window as I post this... And after I post this I shall write the next~ enjoy!

It was unnatural for Dipper to feel this natural. Even the body changing affects of puberty seemed dimmed that day. He was confident, and his hands were less sweaty than normal. After all the annoying drama and depression, Dipper finally felt that things were starting to go right.  
With such a positive version of himself out and about, the worried and awkwardly sweaty version took a long awaited nap in the corner of his mind.

"'Morning everybody; Stan, Mabel, Soos, Ford, Melody." Mabel and Melody instantly looked up from their scrambled eggs, eyeing Dipper over in surprise. 

"Something good must have happened to you." Melody concluded with a smile. Mabel pushed her chair back and narrowed her eyes at her twin. "Mm-hm..." Dipper looked away nervously, "W-why would you say that?" "Body language. Yours isn't dark clouds and frowny faces anymore. It's more like a happy squirrel jumping over a rainbow." Mabel attempted to clarify. Grunkle Stan grunted out between mouthfuls, "He looks exactly the same." 

"It must be women's intuition, I guess." Ford offered. He watched in disgust as Stanley ate beside Waddles in the exact same manner before turning his gaze up to Dipper curiously. "So, what has you so excited, Dipper?" 

He had anticipated this question and answered seamlessly, "I'm investigating another big anomaly- Well, I'm not sure how big it is yet but my gut says it's going to be huge! I'll tell you about it later, uncle Ford. I don't have many of the details yet, but I'm going to meet up with Pacifica and try to get more information." 

Soos reached over Stan's head to hand Dipper a plate of eggs with the rather parental command. "Not before you eat breakfast, dude."   
Stanford smiled pridefully as Dipper begrudgingly took the plate from Soos and added, "Can't expect to unlock the secrets of the universe on an empty stomach. That's what they always say." Dipper's eyebrows drew together and he asked in confusion as he took a forkful of eggs into his mouth, "Who always says that?" 

His great uncle stood with his empty plate, thanking Melody and starting to the sink to rinse the dish off but added mysteriously, "That is for you to explore and find out, isn't it?" 

After Dipper had finished up his breakfast, he started off to the meet up location for his interview with Pacifica. Though, not before he could stop Mabel from tagging along. It didn't really matter if she came along on the investigation or not. His sister had become less and less involved in investigating Gravity Falls and weirdness over the years. Her focus was now one of a full fledged high schooler: friends, make up, and cute boys. She would be mildly interested in his investigation, and that was good enough, he guessed.

The agreement was to meet up in front of the hardware store. It was the place that Pacifica had claimed to have first seen 'The Shift,' as Dipper had taken to calling it. The rich, blonde girl glanced over her rose tinted sunglasses as she saw the twins approach.

"You sure took a long time. I've been waiting on this filthy curb by myself this whole time." Dipper and Mabel smiled. Reaching into her brother's backpack, the slightly taller of the twins clicked a pen open and poised a spiral notebook. "Cut the crap, Pacifica! Tell us everything we want to hear and you'll walk away with only a light tickling!" 

Dipper held his sister back, "Whoa, whoa. Mabel! Pacifica already agreed to tell me what she knows about The Shift." Mabel winked at him in return with the whisper of, "I'm being the bad cop with a semi-sweet side if you get to know me." 

"If anything, we're detectives. If you really want, you can be the semi-sweet bad detective." he offered reluctantly. He had a feeling that this whole conversation was dumbing down his investigation. "Are you both done? I'm not going to wait outside in this heat while you argue." 

Right. Dipper cleared his throat, taking on a serious expression as he asked, "So what exactly happened here?"

Pacifica took a deep breath and handed Dipper a plastic bag, the contents visible through the clear sealing. At first, he had no idea what he was looking at, just a flat pink circle and small bits of glass running lose in the bottom. Seeing his confusion, she elaborated.

"I was just minding my own business. There was nothing to do at home and I was bored so, like, I had my chauffeur drive me in my Ferrari to the new tennis courts down the street from here. But..." Mabel paused in writing down Pacifica's story when the blonde suddenly trailed off. Dipper followed her stare over his shoulder but saw only the other side of the street.

"Are you alright?" Dipper asked warily when he turned back to her. Pacifica's blue eyes shifted back to his light brown and she nodded, slowly sliding out of the daze that seemed to have throttled her. "I just thought I saw something. It was nothing, I guess."

He waited for a moment before sighing and prodding her along with an- as he felt- unnecessary question of "Continue?" Was it really even a question? Or a demand with a sort of 'please' tacked onto it in the form of a question mark? He didn't want to sound too forceful, but that really was the reason that he'd chosen to leave the Mystery Shack that day.

"Anyway, as I was saying before, I was using that compact mirror to fix my bangs, because they were parting all gross, but everything in the mirror started stretching out. Then it snapped back into place and shattered the glass- Who is that?"

The sudden interruption in Pacifica's statement once again, had Dipper groaning and he turned to look over his shoulder only to be met with a cologne soaked sweater vest being shoved into his face. His reaction was, of course, rational, yanking his face away in surprise to avoid the strong fumes that were clogging his lungs. But he only managed to make a gap of a few inches as a hand slid it's way to his other shoulder and tugged him closer.

"Why have you been ignoring my texts? Hmm~?" Oh no. Dipper cringed and looked over -and slightly up- to Bill's humanoid face. It was plastered with a disturbingly wide grin. If Dipper wasn't so addicted to that mouth he would've thought that he liked it better when Bill didn't have one at all. 

Dipper attempted to detach the arm possessively tucked around him, but the feeling of a harsh squeezing and nails digging into his shoulder stopped him abruptly. Mabel tsk'ed and pointed at Bill with her pencil and narrowed eyes as if to say, 'You'd better watch it buddy, that's my brother you got there.'

"Who are _you_?" Pacifica practically spat as Bill leaned heavily on Dipper, who shrunk away with a deep red face. He was going to die. Once again, Bill was publicly groping him. 

A golden eye looked the fellow blonde up, unimpressed. Bill found it annoying, the way that the other thought she could intimidate a being of his immense power with such a classic bitch expression. "The name's James. I'm this widdle Dipper's boyfriend. I touch him and stuff." 

Yep. This was definitely hell. Dipper must have died a while ago, yesterday if not before. He shoved at Bill roughly, finally breaking from his gloved captor. He turned to his sister, who took a deep breath before what was sure to be an unpleasant scream as Mabel tried to express her happiness for her brother. "He's not my b-boyfriend! Nope!" Then to Pacifica. "That's not really- h-h-he doesn't really do that to me- I barely know him!" 

A hand reached for his backside and he quickly turned around and stopped it. He stared with wide eyes at the unamused expression on the one-eyed teen's face, asking exasperatedly, "Really!?" 

Pacifica crossed her arms with a huff of "I always knew that you were a closet fruitcake." Dipper desperately struggled to fend off Bill's hands that rubbed up and down his chest and back with long gloved fingers "That is exactly what he is. So don't go forgetting it, sperm of Northwest." 

"What did you just call me?!" Dipper shoved at Bill's face in the apparent wrestling match that had formed between them and shouted angrily at Bill, who was irritatingly stronger than him. "Bi- 'J-James'! Stop already!" He had almost forgotten that he couldn't let anyone else know who James Waters really was, unless he wanted a riot and probably an olden time-y hanging taking place.

"You are an egg, held together with sperm like all other humans. Nothing special about you. You are exceedingly boring." Oh no, Bill had really done it now. Pacifica's cheeks were blotched with red as the anger formed on her face. And that was Mabel's cue to abandon the pen and notebook that she had been trying to draw Waddles on to jump between the clashing blondes. She waved her hands in the air above her.

"Whoa, Whoa, WHOA. Am I sensing a cat fight going on here? ' _Jim_ ,' or whatever you're going by now, stop being such a butt all the time! And, as much as I approve of you groping my brother, I'd appreciate it if you didn't do it in front of me."

"Mabel!" Dipper shouted accusingly at his sister as he managed to get Bill off of him once more. The demon appeared to be getting ahold of the violent fit of jealousy he was fueled on by. He suddenly gave up on the groping and settled on a triumphant grin directed at Pacifica.

There was the sound of one quick honk and the three of them looked over (Bill being the only one not to follow the automatic cue loud noises seemed to trigger). The source was a purple Ferrari driven by an old man dressed in a suit. Pacifica clicked her tongue. "That's my ride. I guess I'll talk to you both later." Her smile slid away, eyes lingering on Bill momentarily, before she whipped her hair over her shoulder and strutted away confidently.

Dipper's grip tightened on the plastic bag containing the broken compact mirror as he watched the girlish sports car speed off. In all honesty, he was pretty sure that he had retrieved most of the information. However, the idea that he might have missed out on a fact- a fact that could have offered him more insight into this investigation- made his blood boil.

"Did you write everything down?" "Yep! All right here." Mabel retrieved the dropped notepad and he nodded as calmly as he could. 'If Bill says one word...' As if he had heard the threatening thought, Bill tapped Dipper's noggin. He seemed amused by the shorter boy's unreasonable anger. "What kind of phraseology is that, Pinetree? Aren't you giddy with fear upon seeing me?"

"Why did you do that? I was trying to get her statement before she had to leave! Oh my god- Who knows when she'll have time again!" He groaned, massaging his temples and ignoring Mabel's whistling as she pretended not to listen. "Relax, kid. If you want to hear the rest of her humdrum words, you can always text her."

"How about you stop being so jealous! Or at least not make it so obvious! I can talk to other people besides you, you know." Bill growled and his eye narrowed at the mention of that word- that feeling? Was jealousy a feeling? "I don't get 'jealous.' I am either angry or intrigued and wowee do you have a way of making me pulsate with both."

Thin hands reached for Dipper, the look in his one eye was odd, as if he had to touch- had to or the world would surely fall apart around them. It wouldn't. Dipper wasn't an idiot so, once again, he found himself slapping the hands away. 

"No! You know what? You ARE jealous and it's not cool." He huffed feeling his cheeks grow warm as he finished his rant in a horse voice, "I-if you want to hang out and s-stuff, you have to get it through your head that you don't own me."

There was a pause and in it held a silent demand: 'Oh but I want to.' Mabel broke it with a sassy zigzag of snapping followed by the declaration of "Preach it! Self respect boi!" 

Dipper turned away from Bill as he opened his mouth to respond. "You think you understand how I work? That's some comedy gold right there! You don't know ANYTHING!" He bursted into a fit of insane laughter. Dipper glared at the sidewalk in front of him. He pulled Mabel by the arm with him, as he yelled back, "Well then maybe YOU don't know anything about yourself!" 

Dipper didn't look back, but maybe he should have. He might have caught the most open expression Bill had ever used with his new face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now they are back to fighting... -_-
> 
> Hope you liked this chapter and look forward to more!


	32. Thoughts And Dreams

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello~! Another chapter for you enjoyment.... So, enjoy!

Was this going to consume the rest of his life? It sure felt like it was. Dipper stared at the unaltered mirror on Mabel's side of the room. He could see his reflection's eyes looking more and more tired the longer he stared but Dipper was determined to watch after the mirror. It would shift, stretch when he wasn't looking, and the crack that had formed in the bottom left corner would grow without him knowing. He couldn't go to sleep now.

The night was graced with a full moon and Dipper lost himself to his investigation in its elegant glow on the floor before the mirror. He chanced a glance at his nightstand alarm clock and cringed as the witching hour of 3:00 AM greeted him all too cheerily.

Turning his eyes back to the reflective glass, he recounted the failure of that morning's reconnaissance mission of the mirrors across town. Ultimately, everyone in town had only given him annoyed looks as they assumed that his obsession with checking every reflective surface was based in a heavy narcissism.

There was the day before, however. That had been somewhat productive thanks to Pacifica and certainly not Bill Cipher, the most possessive demon he had ever met -and he had met at least nine... Or was it ten? Was it bad that he couldn't remember the details of such horrifying events? He would probably recall it when he got some rest.

His head lulled to the side but he jerked it up quickly. Investigation time. Not sleep time. "Just have to keep my eyes open a little longer..." He whispered to himself but his body didn't agree with his mind and he watched as his reflection's eyelids dropped lower and lower until he could only see blackness.

Everything was on fire. Dipper stood at the edge of it all, watching as the Gravity Falls library crumbled. People were still in there, he could still hear them screaming. The townspeople who weren't trapped or turned to stone by eye bats before being carried off to the pyramid in the sky were being piled one after the other into a disturbing head with a hand sprouting from its balding spot. He watched in utter horror as the mouth chewed openly, blood splattering out of the teeth until the voices from inside grew silent. 

Dipper ran. He was hyperventilating, searching between buildings, and avoiding the blood and bodies as well as the otherworldly monsters on the street. Where was Mabel? Grunkle Stan? Great uncle Ford? He couldn't remember and that sent a panicked chill up his spine. 

"Mabel! Uncle Ford! Stan!" 'Anyone!' His mind screamed. A sharp pain stabbed at his leg and he stopped in his path to examine what was wrong. He looked down quickly only to see a tentacle wrapped around his ankle. There was no time to even gasp in surprise, it yanked him harshly and sent his face straight into the floor where it dragged as he was pulled backwards down the street. The only thing he could see with the debris kicked up in his face were monstrous hands reaching out for him.

Suddenly, he was pulled up into the air by his constricted ankle. More tentacles took hold of each of his limbs until he was suspended upside down before the black triangle with a red eye.

Dipper was struggling and tears poured up onto his birth marked forehead. The voice was booming and inhumanly low as the tendrils tightened on corresponding limbs to the demons rendition of 'eeny-meeny-miny-moe.' His right arm began to be torn off by the black tentacle. 

"Wow, is that really how you picture me in your nightmares? I look so cheesy!" Dipper's eyes that he hadn't even realized he had closed shot open and he fell face first into a white floor. Where was he? Uhg, why did he keep hitting his face?

Bill laughed as he watch the human stand and look at the white void in confusion. "I can't believe THAT was the cause of all your tossing and turning over the years! Star had the right idea. You really are a crybaby~" 

Dipper glared at the floating triangle and held onto his forearm that was still dangling from shreds of muscle tissue. Surprisingly, it didn't hurt one bit. As he came to take in this concept of painlessness, he understood that he was within his mindscape. His anger rose and he shouted at the intruder. "Great, so now you're messing with my dreams! Why couldn't you wait to humiliate me tomorrow so you could let everybody else laugh along with you?" 

There was a pause and then, the demon grew and transformed into his human form with an amused grin. "Awe c'mon, Pinetree~! Private humiliation is so much more fun!" Dipper 'hmf'ed and made a brick wall rise from the ground between them with his mind. He began focusing on imagining the exit to his dream but Bill was not going to give him the opportunity. He reappeared on the same side of the wall as Dipper. 

Rage radiated off of the blonde as he shoved Dipper against the brick wall roughly, pinning him there with his body. "Why are you such an infuriating being? Even in here I-" he stopped himself in favor of squishing Dipper's cheeks roughly together with one gloved hand, "Why? Zkb wklv, vdsolqj!?" 

Dipper yanked his face free and sighed in irritation, "I can't understand what you're saying." Bill only stared with a placid expression stretched across the one searing through from underneath. Dipper averted his eyes to the bow tie tucked into the white collar of the body pressed crudely against his. 

"Why can't you tell me anything about you? You said I know nothing so I-I really, actually, kinda want to...?" He peeked up at Bill's face but looked back to his chest when he saw that a gold eye was staring at him intensely. That heat on his face wasn't visible to the demon, right? God, he hoped not.

Bill tugged the other's arm back into his shoulder and attached it seamlessly as if the dreamed up version of himself had never torn it off to begin with. "You don't wanna know anymore about me than you already do, Pinetree. If you thought Weirdmageddon was bad, you'd probably beg me to kill you after you heard of the other things I've done. And I wouldn't do that for you." 

Dipper looked up at the uncharacteristically soft tone. Bill brushed aside his bangs to look upon the constellation they hid with an abnormal expression in his eyes. Dipper bit his lip, his heart was going to explode at any second, it was pounding in his chest way too hard. 

"B-but I do want to know!" He paused and took a deep breath to prepare himself. " I-I-I think I might actually be in lo-" he attempted desperately but was cut off suddenly by a jarring feeling of falling. He reached for Bill but he wasn't there anymore. Dipper managed to catch himself as he started to fall forward, the floor would not get his face this time.

The attic room was silent when he sat up. Still dark, still exhausted. He immediately looked to the mirror in worry to find it was still intact before allowing himself to lay back on the wood floor with a sigh of relief.

And then reality set in, making his stomach lurch horribly. Oh no. Ohnoohnoohno! Oh god! His face burned painfully and he rolled over to press his heated cheeks into the cool wood floor. Had he really almost confessed to Bill? Well, at least now there was no way he could fall back asleep. He could keep an eye on the mirror.  
...  
Yay...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 0u0.


	33. What Happens in the Tall Grass...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eh. I'm very lame at updating, aren't I? This story is still going! Hopefully the extra length of this Chapter will make up for my tarty-ness.
> 
> WARNING: I've added a new tag, journal 3 spoilers ahead!

Cotton sheets rustled noisily followed soon by the patter of bare feet on the creaky wood. Dipper groaned and forced his crusted eyelids apart. 

He was met with Mabel's smiling face as she squat down beside him. She set a bowl of chocolate cereal on his chest. Wait. Did he sleep on the floor? And did Mabel drench the chocolate cereal with chocolate syrup and chocolate milk? He didn't even try to question the rainbow sprinkles scattered over the top.

"'Morning, Dippy! How'd you sleep? I threw your blanket over you this morning when I tripped over your legs because you were moaning. Also, you should eat your cereal right now, like, right. NOW.- I'll go grab you some clothes to wear!"

There was something going on with his sister. Narrowing his eyes on her back as she dug through his things, Dipper set aside the bowl full of awaiting cavities down on the floor beside him and sat up groggily. 

"Mabel, what's gotten into you?" She sighed, exasperatedly before turning back to him, his black shirt with a glow in the dark star in the center and his favorite brown shorts in hand. "Just hurry up and get dressed! Uhg! Are these the only matching shorts? We need to give you a closet makeover- But not right now! Put these clothes on!" 

The clothes landed in his lap and he watched in confusion as Mabel gave him a wide, excited grin before heading out of their room. "Come downstairs when you're ready~!"  
With her gone, Dipper stared about the room. Why was he sleeping on the floor again? Oh right, he had been trying to catch Mabel's mirror stretching but had fell asleep. He cringed as he recalled the nightmare he'd had of Weirdmageddon. Dipper hadn't had a nightmare since he'd come to Gravity Falls that summer. He had become so comfortable with useless and unmemorable dreams that he'd actually forgotten he had a problem with night terrors.

Bill had been there. The real Bill Cipher. Not the cheap remake that his subconscious had tried to terrify him with. He had seen what scared Dipper and had altered his form to calm him down.

Dipper had confessed.

Or at least, almost confessed. A groan escaped him as he stood and tugged his pajamas off to replace them with the outfit his sister had thrown at him. He'd rather curl up under a rock and die after how embarrassingly stupid he had been the night before, but Mabel wanted to show him something downstairs.

He gruffly descended the stairs carrying the untouched cereal bowl with him. "Mabel, I can't eat this much sugar first thing in the morning. Where are you?" Dipper passed by the living room, heading for the kitchen, but stopped and backed up when he caught sight of a figure near the TV. 

He was not ready for this. Not in the slightest. Bill was standing in the middle of the Mystery Shack. Mabel was telling him about television like he had never seen it before. If Dipper thought about it, he realized that there were no TVs at the Waters house. So maybe Bill really never- 

What the heck was he even thinking!? Had he completely forgotten about the glaring fact of his confession the night before?  
Mabel stopped talking in the middle of her explanation of Hallmark TV movies when she saw her rumpled twin fidgeting in the doorway. "And there he is! Our little sleepyhead, Dipper!" she announced proudly. 

Maybe this was all just part of an elaborate nightmare he was still undergoing. Any second he was going to look down and realize that he wasn't wearing pants or something as equally horrible as that.

"Sleep well, Pinetree~?" Something thick and uncomfortable crawled up his throat and his face became red. He looked anywhere but at Bill, grumbling a "No." under his breath as he entered the room. Mabel happily twirled over to Dipper and took the cereal bowl from him before shoving him towards the demon who held a mischievous grin.

"You two love birds look cuter and cuter together everyday~! Now, go have fun you crazy kids before the big bad Scientist that lives in the basement sees Bill inside the Shack." She sang, nudging Dipper a bit closer to Bill even as he pushed against her hands.

"Mabel, did _you_ invite him over? What were you thinking!?" She rolled her eyes and started to shoo them backwards when Bill pipped up. "I broke a window and invited myself inside." "You did what?!" Mabel opened the back door and pointed to the cool day waiting outside.

"Go be cute outside! Candy and Grenda are coming over so stay out as long as you want. Bye!" Cute? Dipper was not cute, especially not with Bill. Had she not seen how angry he was at him for breaking into the shack? 

The door closed and locked behind them in his sister's attempt of keeping him out. In all actuality, Dipper could just go around to the front of the building if he really wanted to get back inside.

There was a whistling and he looked from the sealed door to the figure strolling away. He guessed that Bill was acting like what they had said last night to each other had been nothing. A trick of the mind. A fleeting hope projected from the oozing in Dipper's mindscape as a vivid dream in his dreamscape.  
Dipper knew the ruse. He found that he was a little more than offended that Bill was treating something so difficult as confessing feelings like a boring add in the newspaper. He was glossing over it as if it had never existed to begin with.

With a determined pair of narrowed eyes, he followed after Bill to observe his reactions. Bill didn't acknowledge Dipper's presence beside him on the dirt road for several irritating minutes before spouting out cryptically, "How's that journal of yours coming along, kid?"  
It took Dipper by surprise. Bill had indirectly mentioned the fact that he knew the journal existed in the past but now he was out right asking Dipper about it. Did the demon know that the book was dedicated to researching and studying him? Now it made sense. A blush crept up to Dipper's ears as he reprimanded the other in a flustered state. "D-Don't be such an all knowing narcissistic jerk! And stop looking through my stuff when I'm not around, jeez."

"It's just such an amusing pastime! Brings back memories of tormenting Sixer when he was writing his." Bill proclaimed, then suddenly took a sharp left off the path and into the dense wood. Dipper trailed after him in confusion. "Where are you going all of the sudden? Wait up!" 

They emerged from the thick foliage into an overgrown clearing. A bolder from the nearby mountains rested, covered in moss, in the cool breeze and warm sun. The long grass tickled the middle of Dipper's calves and he watched as Bill hopped atop the rock with ease warily. There could be snakes or other animals hiding in the grass that he did NOT want to become acquainted with, even if Bill had left a trail by stomping his way through. 

"The only thing lurking in the grass is you. Now hurry up and come here." He sounded impatient, and patted the stone for emphasis on where he wanted him. At least Dipper had remembered to bring a jacket. With the lake's newest batch of Sloothsquito larva becoming adults, most days held a horrible amount of bugs in the air.

After another moment of contemplation, Dipper walked swiftly through the grass on his toes as if that would keep the tics and snakes away. His leap onto the rock wasn't as successful as he had hoped and he slid back into the grass before quickly trying again. The second attempt did the trick and he tucked his feet up into himself so as to avoid the blades of green below.

Dreadful tension-laced silence settled over them. Dipper resigned himself to tugging off bits of moss as he tried to think of how to properly talk about what had happened the night before.

He ended up going with the awkward and over used starter line of "About last night..." Bill's eye glanced over to him with only slight interest but it didn't discourage Dipper, because that looked to be Bill's relaxed expression. He swallowed a gulp of spit in hopes of making his mouth less dry and wadded the moss he had collected into a ball.

"I-I don't know if it came through or not, but I..." There was a dry puff of a laugh as Bill mocked rudely, "You love me?" Dipper's face became several shades darker pink and he focused intently on his moss ball. "I know you don't believe in love, and that telling you won't make you have the feelings for me that I feel for you." He pulled into himself tighter as he laughed in self-detrimental bitterness. "It's stupid for me to even feel this way for you. I'm just setting myself up to get hurt- You've already hurt me so much. It's exhausting. I just can't stop this throbbing pain, no matter how hard I try." 

Oh no, his eyes were watering up. He discreetly rubbed the tears away on his shoulder and kept his eyes averted from Bill's. He felt a sinking dread for the teasing to come but at least his chest felt a tiny bit lighter, having his unrequited feelings out in the open.

"Hey, Pinetree. Look at me." Dipper didn't listen, withdrawing more into himself in response. He felt and heard Bill scoot closer to him and bit his lip. "Dipper." He didn't look.

"Hey, Mason."

His head shot up quickly. No one ever called him by his real name anymore besides his mom when she was mad or his teachers. Hearing Bill say it, actually say it out loud and not mouth it against his lips in a devilish kiss, made a coil in his stomach tighten.

Bill kissed him. Dipper didn't care if it was just to mess with his feelings, he took it as it was offered and moved his mouth against the other. One tear manage to slide its way down his cheek as he closed his eyes and let trembling hands loosely cling to Bill's customary white dress shirt.

A hand snaked it's way into his jacket while Bill nipped at his lower lip. A tentative sigh escaped between their lips making the hand in his jacket pause for a moment to register the sound. Bill pulled away to look over Dipper's expression with a mysterious expression of his own.

He then held up Dipper's journal with a triumphant grin, breaking whatever strange moment had formed between them instantly. "Guess what I just found.~" Dipper immediately snapped out of the daze and looked upon his on book in bitter shock. "Did you... Really just kiss me so that you could steal my journal?"

"I can be really 'inconsiderate' as you've already bore witness to. But, if it makes you feel better, I enjoyed that adorable pathetic sigh of yours. Top notch porn star sounds. Not that you would know anything about that, am I right~?"

Dipper didn't know how to respond. How dare he! One time! ONE TIME Dipper had looked up porn but had chickened out the moment he saw a full grown naked man. More or less it had been an insult and a way to provoke him, right? Not giving him time to respond if he had intended to, Bill began flipping through the pages of the journal with a self righteous grin. Dipper lunged forward in a panic. "Hey!" But Bill raised the book out of his reach and pushed him away.

One eye landed on the little doodle of his crudely drawn demonic form. Dipper was going to die of embarrassment. Bill flipped to the page where it talked about the curse Bill had accused Dipper of casting on him, quickly flipping through the next couple of pages while still keeping the journal's owner from reaching it.

A frown replaced the face splitting grin when he turned to the page that Dipper had dedicated to explaining (or attempting to explain) Bill's mood swings. The demon brought the page extremely close to his eye with a glare. 

"What?" He asked cautiously and Bill turned the book towards him and pointed with a gloved finger to Dipper's quickly written side note:  
" _Talk to Pacifica N. about mirrors stretching. A.K.A. '_ The Shift.'"

Dipper raised an eyebrow in question as Bill flipped through the last two filled out pages. The air about him fell into state of boredom. Bill shoved the book roughly back into Dipper's chest. "Didn't Fordzy tell you to use that journal you've got there to investigate me?"

"How did yo-" Dipper began warily but Bill continued on, the irritation and anger practically dripping from his words dramatically, "So then, why are you filling it with stupid pointless shit?" Dipper glared and held his journal tighter to his chest defensively. "Well maybe it's because you were being a complete asshole at the time so I started investigating something else."

Bill suddenly tugged off his tight black gloves and shoved the deathly white appendages in Dipper's face. "Oh look, I have mysterious symbols on my fingers. Hopefully a nerd will not document them." Dipper wasn't sure how to react to this, but started by pushing the wiggly hands away from his face. There were odd letters etched in black ink up each of the slender fingers and eyes on each of his palms. As interesting as this discovery was, Dipper was still mad at Bill for calling his investigation of The Shift 'pointless shit.'

"Well, that's good because a 'nerd' is not going to document them." He crossed his arms in finality and silently glared at the demon sitting in front of him. Bill stared for a moment before beginning to slip the gloves back on with a casual, "Suit yourself." Though, he must have known that Dipper really wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to learn something new about Bill. 

Dipper began to panic and called quickly, "Never mind, I'll do it!"  
The demon smiled triumphantly and removed his glove once more. "And make sure to add one of those horrible drawings of me to it!"

Dipper got little to no information about the markings from Bill, only that he wasn't born with them. But after examining them for a while, Dipper realized the pupils of both eyes on the palms had scaring that pointed to Bill having dug sharp thin objects into the eyes multiple times and that the one on his right hand was fresher than the other.

"There. I'm finished drawing you, you can stop posing." He smiled despite himself and Bill's ridiculous pose laid out on his side like he was getting a painting done by a professional or something. Dipper handed him the book with a slight laugh as Bill looked over his horrible drawing with eagerness. 

"Oh, whoa, Pinetree. I somehow expected better from you." Dipper laughed, not offended in the slightest. He knew he was pretty awful at drawing, humans at least. "What made you think I was good at drawing?" Bill was scanning over the notes about his hand with intrigue, glancing down at his then gloved palm in contemplation. "When you drew me before it was only mostly ugly. This one looks nothing like me." 

Still laughing under his breath at the almost disappointed look in Bill's eyes he began to point out that the other one was literally a triangle with an eye, and a top hat. But there was suddenly the sound of voices speaking near the clearing.

It was to Dipper's immediate right and the gruff, inhuman voices were growing closer. Bill quickly and silently yanked the young Pines down the opposite side of the bolder, down into the tall grass. He covered his gasp of surprise with his hand roughly. They stayed crouched behind the rock for awhile and Dipper's heart began to speed up when he heard the intruders footsteps in the clearing.

Two short and grey scaled pig monsters came into view, carrying a frozen six foot squirrel who's face was smeared with what Dipper assumed was deer's blood from what he had heard about of the creature. 

The pig-like monsters stood on two legs as they carefully carried the Squirrel to the middle of the clearing, saying words in a weird alien language that sounded like snorting and raspberries. 

Dipper tried to look back at Bill, but it was hard from the odd angle that they were currently in with the blond hunched over the brunette, forcing him to cradle his knees into his chest but keeping his butt off the floor. He gave up on trying to look at Bill when he heard an ear shattering high pitch whistle.

One of the unknown creatures put his clawed hand through nothing. But it was something, wasn't it? It was pulling open a hole in the dimension. He saw with wide eyes and gaping mouth the other worldly monsters toss the man sized Squirrel through the hole before following in after it. 

The whistling stopped. But Dipper's ears were left ringing. He didn't know what he had just seen. It terrified him, yet it also sent a giddy rush up his spine. He wanted to see it again, wanted know more about it, and to understand every component of what he had just witnessed.  
And he wanted to do all of it that second.

Bill removed his hand from Dipper's mouth, his other hand lingering on the arched spine before standing. He rose up calmly, unlike the other who practically jumped up and ran to the place where the otherworldly event had taken place. Dipper stared at the seamless air he had been sure had just held a seam before. He turned back to stared at Bill with wide eyes. "Did you see that!?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ufufu. A mystery to ponder... 
> 
> And yes, I made hints to the fact Bill knew Dipper's real name (see chater 14) and I was planning on puting Mysterious Mr.K and I's guess which was 'Michael' but then journal three came out and, you know.
> 
> We knew Dipper's real name must start with a 'M' because of the episode they first meet Bill in Stan's mind. The door to Stan's memories of Dipper had an underlined 'M' for no explained reason and we reached the conclusion of Michael because it sounds similar to Mabel. Of course, we now know that his name is Mason.
> 
> Well, that's my ramble. Hope you liked this chapter and look forward to more!


	34. Journal Entry Shmeventeen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Technically still Saturday where I am. Here's another installment of The Stone In His Chest. Hope you enjoy~

_July 28th_

**STRANGE MONSTERS! COULD THEY HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH _THE SHIFT_?**

_While on an unplanned walk with Bill, we stopped in an overgrown clearing. He was being really, really annoying. ~~He was acting like nothing hap~~ when we heard strange inhuman voices approaching._

_I was going to face them head on but Bill hid us behind a rock for some reason. ~~It was weird to feel his heart beating calmly against my back~~ My heart was racing as we waited to catch a glimpse of what creatures were entering the clearing._

_Disgusting looking scaled pig creatures that smelled of barf flavored jellybeans (looked surprisingly like waddles, in the face at least)._

_They carried between the two of them a frozen man-sized squirrel (see page 3 for how I learned about that creature)._

_Nothing could have prepared me for what we witnessed take place next. One of the scaled pigs shoved his dinosaur-like talons through nothing! Simply stretched a hole in our dimension for them to climb through with the squirrel.  
Could this be the missing piece to solving the mystery of The Shift? I'm worried that this tear is like The Rift which brought about Weirdmageddon._

_I can't shake the feeling that Bill was involved somehow. He had been acting weird (weird for a weirdo like him). He said that ~~if I wasn't going to pay attention to him~~ he would get back to his "busy" schedule. But as far as I have seen, ~~90% of his life revolves around stalking me. Which I kinda think is cute for some reason.~~_

_~~His main goal in life is to get in my p~~ _

_~~He~~   
_

Dipper groaned loudly and crossed out everything about Bill, concealing it with black ink over the blue writing. No one would ever read his unprofessional tidbits. He didn't even need to mention the demon's presence in the matter, it didn't add or take anything away. He just hoped Ford wouldn't ask about what happened to the majority of the writing on the page. 

It was frustrating.

The Mystery Shack was vacant of both tourists and his great uncles. Apparently, they had driven off in the Stan-mobile in a hurry. Melody had been the one to tell him this. She pointed to the tire marks in the uprooted grass right in front of the back porch where she sat with Soos sipping lemonade and snaking on his infinity pizza.

The couple had decided to close down the shack for the day to have a little break from their busy schedule. The lower floor of the shack was not an extremely promising sight. Mabel had taken up the living room with some major craft project that Grenda and Candy were helping her with. Even from the attic, Dipper could hear them practically foaming at the mouth with boy gossip. Candy had gotten back together with her boyfriend, if the bits of conversations fluttering up from the floorboards were anything to go by. Having no one to share his findings with, he had turned to his journal. But the thought of Bill had messed everything up.

He trudged down the stairs, heavy with the air of a tortured soul, and his thoughts turned to Bill's hands. They were calloused but soft. Long thin fingers that sent shivers up Dipper's spine. He still didn't know what the symbols on Bill's fingers meant. Dipper was beginning to wonder if he should give him some space again. Bill had lost some of his devilish humor, staying in a state of perpetual irritation and it was bumming him out. But then again, last time Dipper had attempted to give Bill space he had humiliated him in front of Pacifica. He waved it off as he reached the bottom floor. Maybe the demon was having blood withdraws because Dipper wouldn't give him any more... He was nearing his breaking point and, for a moment, considered offering blood to Bill just to make him return to his normal disgustingly freaky self.

Stanley and Stanford had returned. Dipper had been just passed the backdoor, on his way to the kitchen when they had suddenly barged in, arms cradling brown paper bags. Dipper hurried to them in the doorway, surprising Stan and almost making him loose his grip on the bag full of assorted grocery store items in the process.

"Whoa, kid. You look like you saw a ghost. There aren't any still hanging around in here are there?" Nudging passed his brother, Ford stepped inside with his own sack full of food items. Upon seeing Dipper he smiled. "Dipper. What's on your mind, boy? Is there a reason for you to look so pale?"

Before he could respond, Stan called out to Mabel, "Hey, did Dipper go outside today?"

"Ah-huh." Mabel replied distractedly. Her attention was consumed by the massive collage of bark, leaves, and dirt she was making. It depicted Gravity Falls in a surprisingly beautiful way. 

Candy looked up from where she was constructing the houses against the large strip of canvas and waved to the older men in the hall.

Stanford waved back, looking over the the project with a cringing smile. He watched as dirt and bark and bugs were ground into the carpet right in front of his very eyes before Dipper regained his attention.

"I need to talk to you." Stanford caught the spark of fire in Dipper's eyes. With an exhausted sigh, he stacked his bags of groceries on top of Stanley who kneed him in the butt in response, "Ey! I'm not some kind of grocery coatrack or whatever. Carry your own things, four-eyes!" 

"Just set it down in the kitchen for me." Stanley glared, ready to retort when Ford added "Please, Stanley. I was the one who told you about the sale on denture cream _and_ combined it with the coupon. You wouldn't have been able to get twelve tubes for four cents without my help. So please. Just put the bags on the counter and I'll deal with them in a second." 

Dipper felt washed with relief when Stan finally grumbled, "This doesn't make us even." Before heading for the kitchen with the bags. With that out of the way, Ford gestured for Dipper to follow him to the vending machine.

The code was typed in and the hidden door opened then closed behind them. Ford waited until they had made it into the elevator to ask, knowing that as they entered the lower floors nothing would be able to eavesdrop.

"What's on your mind? Does this have to do with Bill?"

Dipper hesitated, lingering on the fleeting suspicions of the demon's involvement. But his mind quickly began to burry those worries with memories of their trip to Greasy's Diner. His thoughts shifted away from Bill.

"No, this is about my other investigation. I've been calling it _The Shift_." The elevator opened and Ford praised happily, "Great name choice! You've caught my interest."   
Dipper explained everything relevant to the investigation: 

Pacifica's account of the shattering compact, the mirror in he and Mabel's room becoming distorted in the same way, he added with less confidence that he thought that the recent earthquakes in town may also be connected somehow (he hadn't dug much into those events yet). And then (with some editing), he told his great uncle about the unknown creatures and what they had done in the woods earlier that day.

"May I see you journal for a moment?" Ford asked when Dipper had concluded. He squirmed at the idea of having to watch someone eye over his notes. Especially considering how many he had crossed out, never to be read again. What if Stanford could still read all the stupid things about Bill through the black marker? He couldn't very well say 'no' to Ford though. After all, he had been the one who gave him the journal to begin with. It wasn't as though Dipper hadn't memorized more than half of the pages in journal number three before they tossed it into the bottomless pit.

Regrettably, he gave the book to the awaiting six-fingered hands, rough with age. Ford flipped to his most recent pages and read them over with such seriousness that Dipper felt a bit relieved; his great uncle was taking his notes seriously.

Eyes widen and the older Pines had to bring the book closer to his face in order to confirm that he'd read the sentence correctly. "Bill _**offered**_ you information about himself?" Dipper shrugged nervously, "He was mad that I had started writing about something else and practically forced me to write down more about him."

An almost pleasant smile came to Stanford's face. But his eyes were still chillingly serious as he spoke, "It almost makes me think he's mad because you aren't as obsessed with him as he seems to be with you." 

Heat raced up Dipper's face and he quickly casted his eyes away in embarrassment. "The investigation?" Came his uncomfortable voice and Stanford turned the next page in a way to drop the subject. He gave Dipper an incredulous look and skimmed over the few lines that remained untouched by black ink.

He didn't ask about the ones that were covered up because he believed every man was entitled to his secrets. But Dipper felt the pressing question in the air. He almost blurted out that they were stupid notes about Bill just because the tension was killing him. 

"I've seen a few of these creatures in my otherworldly travels. There is a good percentage of them that are very friendly and quite hospitable, but the rest... Well, to put it frankly, they're a bunch of lose cannons."

"What are they?" "I don't know, I only knew them by 'Xppelib Pzrjyxdp' because that is what every dimension that knew of them addressed them as." 

Ford picked up a scrap of paper from his cluttered desk and quickly illustrated a diagram featuring two of the same creatures Dipper had seen in the woods as he explained. "You see, these multidimensional creatures rely on smell and hearing during the day as their red eyes only work in the dark. They dimension hop, looking for sustenance and, if they deem a place sufficient enough, they attempt to immigrate in. They're really are annoying creatures. Their mouths are the garbage dump of the multiverse and they expect the people of the universe they invade to be fine with them eating everything!"

They didn't seem so bad. Dipper relaxed a bit. He and Ford could easily get rid of them. "So all we have to is beat them up and seal the tear they created, right?" Ford groaned and adjusted his glasses. Dipper didn't understand what he meant by _everything_ , but Ford didn't think he needed to explain the true meaning behind those words at the moment. There where more important matters to attend to.

"For now, let's call them 'Hoggo Munchers' or something... Wow, that has to be the worst name I've ever come up with." "What about 'Scale Pigs'?" Dipper offered and Stanford shook his head dismissively, trying to think of a better name before settling lamely, "Let's just call them Hog Monsters. Hog because their skull structure is more similar to that of a hog than a pig... I am getting really bad at this naming thing."

"Anyways, this will not be as easy as it seems. These Hog Monsters are dangerous fighters and, though they may be strong, they aren't strong enough or smart enough to create this tear. Something else created this hole to get in, so we must be on the lookout. Once we find the creature causing the hole, we kill it and the universe should mend the tear on it's own."

The journal, with the Big Dipper shinning in gold on it's cover, was handed back to Dipper calmly. "We'll need to kill the Hog Monsters left trapped in this dimension after we bump off the other creature trying to get in. The only extreme I worry about is time; we must find the monster soon so that the tear doesn't become any bigger than it already is."

Here, his great uncle paused and a smile formed on his face. "Ready to help save the world again?" Dipper clutched his book and his serious frown curved upwards in excitement. To anyone else, they would have seemed insane, considering the context of their conversation. But then again, the Pines were a bit insane.

"Oh yeah."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The plot thickens! School is wrapping up for me so I should be able to post more frequently by next month... Hopefully.


	35. Uninvited (Awkward)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today is Saturday, right? No? Well shit. Lost track of the days so today is Saturday according to my internal clock. This update is totally on time

Dipper was in a good mood, a good mood indeed. One which he had quickly hidden upon noticing it's existence. Last time he was in a good mood someone had crushed it before he had gotten a chance to fully enjoy it.

A week had sailed on by and Dipper found himself held up in the underground laboratory with Stanford. They poured over hundreds of research notes made by a much younger version of his great uncle as he traveled through the multiverse.

On the third day, Ford had gone up onto the roof to retrieve the abnormality scanner reports. He had brought the data back to the lab in hopes of having caught any of these new creatures on the scans. What they found surprised and confused them.

Small yellow dots littered the screen. That was nothing new. The thing that surprised the two if them was the red dot... It was a dot. No longer did it loom imposingly over the Mystery Shack, it was far into the woods and so much smaller.

"Maybe Bill really is sick." Dipper said, minuscule sleep making it much harder to disguise the concern in his voice. Stanford patted his back reassuringly, "No, no. This is good news! This means that the blood you gave him does not fuel his powers forever. He'll need more but you won't give him any, right?" That was a tough question because Dipper wasn't sure if he could stop himself from falling for Bill's sinful tricks. But he would try and so he nodded firmly. "Good. That just means we won't have to worry about Bill on top of this Hog Monster fiasco. At least for the moment." 

On the fourth day, Mabel came down to tell Dipper that Bill was scaring Soos by calling the Shack's landline and breathing deeply into the phone. But Dipper's phone was off for a reason: so that he could focus. Though, there were some moments, when he began to doze off, that his mind would be pulled to his demon. That gave him the chills; his demon. Could he call him that? Maybe it was better not to say it out loud.

Now he and Ford had developed an understanding of what kind of creature they would be after, the one that had torn a hole in their dimension. They also devised a short seven page list on how they would engage in combat with the Hog Monsters (upon Dipper's request).

Dipper rewarded himself with a hot shower while his great uncle took to singeing off his oncoming beard down in the lab. Ford treated the both of them to lunch at Greasy's on the count that they had only had seven meals in the last seven days. 

Dipper felt a little weird about sitting in the same booth he had when Bill had brought him there but shoved those thoughts away.

And now he was laid out on the floor beside Mabel at the foot of the couch where Melody read through the werewolf romance book Mabel had recommended her. Dipper remembered his phone was still off and switched it on.

When he checked his message box, he was a bit put out by the emptiness it projected at him, particularly his conversation with Bill. Whatever. If Bill wanted to be apart, that was fine. After all, it wasn't as if he was really Dipper's.

 _But what about the Summerween party or that time with Pacifica? He did call you his boyfriend._ An ignorant voice popped up in his head and dark clouds settled around his mind. So much for his good mood. Once again, Bill had taken it.

"Dipper, you're looking all constipated." Mabel pointed out without even looking up from her phone. Her crude observation had him sighing loudly and shoving his phone back into his pocket. His gaze traveled to the TV where a live coverage of Thomson trying to win the five dollar shirt at some restaurant by chugging three bottles of ranch was being shown. No doubt Robbie, Wendy, and the others had put him up to it. Dipper almost felt bad for him. Almost.

Melody watched his sudden shift in mood knowingly and closed her book. She stood with a bit of difficulty. She was reaching her six month mark soon and, as much as she loved the baby, she was annoyed with the hindered movements carrying her caused. 

"Dipper, mind helping me make dinner?" He looked up to her with slight surprise. No one trusted him in the kitchen after the crockpot disaster when he was eight. But Melody was asking him to help even though she knew of his cooking abominations of the past, so Dipper nervously followed her into the kitchen.

Sure they had had a few hiccups, one being Dipper's uncanny ability to cut his finger open on a spoon when mixing the boiled potato chucks unto mashed potatoes. And he felt unnerved by the daunting task of getting the breadcrumbs down from the top shelf. But he had managed and Melody assured him that he was being helpful, even if he had burned the first batch of breaded chicken.

There was a knock on the back door and Dipper looked to Melody as she attempted to wash the egg and flour combo out from between her fingers in the sink. "Dipper, would you get that? I'm a little busy." "Oh, y-yeah! I'll be right back." 

He reached the door and unlocked it. When he pulled it open, his smile fell at the sight of Bill resting against the doorframe, a leering look in his eye.

Dipper closed the door in his face and locked it without much thought.  
It wasn't even (completely) fueled by the resentment he felt over the demon failing to contact him since he had confessed. It wasn't as though Dipper had tried to get a hold of him either, but he was ignoring that bit of information.

"Who was it?" Melody asked when he reentered the kitchen and Dipper blushed unintentionally. "N-no one! I mean, no one important anyway." He followed his stiff answer up with an awkward, forced laugh.

Melody laughed too, but not along with him as Dipper thought. Everyone was aware of his crush on some blonde haired guy. It was common knowledge to the residents of the Mystery Shack. They had also become aware of the pattern of emotions Dipper had assumed since his crush had developed. Sulking when they were fighting or not talking, a flustered lair when the other was around. She briefly wondered if it was the uneasiness of everyone seeing him with the strange boy or if Dipper always acted like that around him? Either way, she thought it was oddly sweet. 

"You didn't need to wear such fancy clothes!" Dipper heard his sister's voice and looked out the kitchen entrance just in time to see his twin closing door behind Bill. "Your brother has a thing for suits." He simply stated to the smiling girl before looking over to Dipper with an evil grin. "'Ain't that right, Pinetree?"

"Mabel! Why did you let him in!?" "Don't be so rude. I invited him over for you!"

Mabel pushed Bill towards her brother but the demon barely moved. "He's been uber sad since you locked yourself down in the lab. Look at his face, is that not the face of your neglected lover?" Dipper was growing increasingly disturbed by this conversation and he looked to the side awkwardly.

"W-we- We aren't lovers! And how is him smiling the look of someone sad!?" He had to calm himself down or he'd throw up from the disgusting mix of strong emotions brewing in his chest. Pinching the bridge of his nose in annoyance, he finally looked to Bill's amused eye. "If you wanted to talk, you could've texted me, I would-" 

"You turned your phone off." Mabel gasped from the side as if she were watching a TV drama and Dipper sent her an irritated look before directed his confusion to Bill. "I seriously want to know how the hell you knew that considering _you_ didn't try to text me once!"

Bill cocked his head with that amused expression hanging on his pale lips, those long black lashes fluttering against his strong cheekbone in a way that made the hairs on Dipper's arm stand on end. No, no. Dipper was not looking at them. Not one bit. 

"I just know. Isn't that enough? It isn't, is it? You want to be such a little know it all." His gloved hand reached towards a piece of brown hair but Dipper swatted it away. Melody poked her head out beside him in the doorway.

"Mabel, could you please tell those old goats to come upstairs for dinner?" Mabel nodded enthusiastically, casting Bill and Dipper one more mischievous look, "Be good!" Before running off.

"I'm sorry, I don't think I caught your name the last time you were here." Dipper took several steps away from Bill when he realized that his chest was brushing the other's. He breathed in and cleared his throat. "Melody, this is... James. He-" 'Just moved here' never left his lips as Bill slipped his arm over Dipper, tickling his neck and causing him to laugh before he could stop himself.

"I'm his boyfriend."

Dipper died, right in the folds of Bill's warm suit. He should have known to never try and introduce the demon because he always seemed to declare that he was something he was not. Melody shook Bill's hand and Dipper gasped, but apparently no deal had just transacted as Melody's smile never faltered. "Nice to meet you for real this time, James. You're just in time, Dipper and I just finished dinner." 

Bill gave Dipper a once over with a piercing gold eye. His hand, still draped over his shoulder, gave the burgundy apron strap a tug. "Eye see~!" 

"What is he doing inside the shack!?"  
Came the shout of a husky voice. Ford narrowed his eyes at the two teens blocking the door to the kitchen. He hated the way that Bill so casually had his grand nephew in his arms. Like he had a right to him; like he owned him. Stanford wanted to rip that arm off right then and there, but he calmed himself when Dipper quickly ducked away from Bill's ensnaring limb.

"Don't be mean, Grunkle Ford. I invited him over for dinner!" Mabel admitted breezily before helping Melody unfold the bigger plastic table they used for summers when the Pines showed up. It took up the whole kitchen along with the chairs. Every time they had managed to all fit into the tight seating arrangements and Dipper could not for the life of him figure out how. 

Ford narrowed his eyes at the the mere inches separating Bill and Dipper and made his way past them into the kitchen. Melody called for everyone to actually enter the room instead of lurking in the doorway. Dipper watched Ford and Mabel take their seats before glancing over at the demon's smug face. "Don't say anything rude." he warned. Bill held his hand up, "Please, Pinetree. I know more about table etiquette than your whole family. I think I can handle a bumpkin meal like this one." Dipper glared, " **That was rude!"** "Dipper, quiet the sweet nothings and get you butt over here!" Mabel called and he cringed, turning back to Bill one last time, "You know what? Just say as little as possible, okay?" He didn't wait for a response and entered the kitchen as plates were being set. He untied the dirty apron to set it aside as sat down, Bill taking the seat next to him. Mabel was on the other side of Bill... And then there was Stanford, who sat directly across from him. Great.

Stanley showed up with no pants on and nabbed the seat in front of Dipper. Soon after, Soos entered the room and took up the head of the table while Melody took up the opposite side. The table was quiet for a long moment as some began to tackle their food. Soos suddenly pointed at Bill.

"Is eyepatch guy new? I'd feel kinda bad if this is like, the bazillionth time we've met and I can't remember you." "Names James Waters, currently." Bill offered with a grin before pushing Dipper's hair out of his face with a purposeful grin. Dipper jabbed the hand away with his fork and Stanford tried to direct the conversation away from 'James'. 

"Mabel, is there an explainable reason why you have glow in the dark stars in your hair?" She didn't need to think. The moment he finished his question she spouted out around a mouthful of chicken "Magic!" She swallowed hard before going on, "So 'Jim', how's your mom? I've heard good things about her!" Dipper watched in disgust as Bill continually dug at his chicken with a fork but never raised a bite to his mouth.

"She's on the verge of a mental breakdown~!" This was his last chance, Dipper decided and kicked Bill under the table as way of warning. Why would things work in his favor anyway? Mabel was currently telling Soos about 'Jim' never having watched TV. It irritated him. Why had Mabel invited him over? Had they been meeting up while he was in the laboratory? 

His mind abruptly shut off all irritation and thoughts the moment he felt a hand squeezed his thigh. Okay that was it. Dipper glared over at the amused demon before standing. "I have to go to the bathroom." He announced and left the kitchen quickly.

Bill was probably in there making fun of him with Mabel all chummy-like. Dipper stared at himself in the bathroom mirror. Red was blotching his face and an ugly wrinkle was creasing the skin between his eyebrows. It slowly eased as he realized what he was doing. He was getting jealous of Mabel. Hadn't he been the one to tell Bill off for getting stupidly jealous of who he spent time with? His mindset was no better than Bill's now.

Thoughts of the long tongue he had become familiar with crept into his head and he bit his lip. Bill didn't touch anybody else like that, did he? No. Dipper was the only one, he was sure of it. That begged the question; why? Why only him? Why him at all? It was a mystery. One that Dipper actually felt hesitant about solving. The answer could liberate his racing mind or completely destroy him. And the possibilities to where either path led were as infinitely numerous as an infinity-sided dice.

There was a knock on the door, followed directly after by it opening. Good thing he wasn't really going to the bathroom. Bill hadn't even waited for him to respond and had simply opened the locked door effortlessly. 

He looked around the small room with his hands on his hips. "Nice place you got here, mind if I come in?"

Dipper looked away, ashamed by the jealousy that was railing up. It poked at him from the inside and yelling for him to let Bill take advantage of him against the bathroom sink if it would mean that Mabel or anyone else would not be as close to Bill's heart as he was.

Bill tisk'ed and pushed Dipper against the sink. He was so lost, he didn't think he would ever be found from what depths he was sinking to. This jealousy, was it the same for Bill?

It was not a thought out, calculated plan to make it the perfect moment- they were less than three feet from a toilet after all. Dipper didn't think about it, he just leaned up and caught Bill's lips with his trembling own. 

When his mind caught up with his actions, embarrassment settled in where it was suppose to be and he started to pull away from the unresponsive lips.

How humiliating. The first time Dipper had started a kiss between them and Bill wanted nothing to do with it. Or at least, that's what Dipper was berating himself with until Bill's hand suddenly dug into the back of his skull and forced him back into his lips. This, what they were doing, wasn't reluctant or hesitant. Both of them wanted nothing more in that very instant and it quickly became a heated entanglement of desire.

A tongue shoved roughly into Dipper's willing mouth and a quiet gasp fell from his lips as he pushed back against it with his own. His hands wrapped around Bill's neck and dragged him impossibly closer.

He regrettably didn't want to pass out from lack of oxygen and had to turn his head away. Though, Bill was not too pleased and bit his neck particularly rough.

"Why have you been hanging out with my sister?" he panted out and immediately regretted it. Bill met his round eyes with a sharp, cutting glance. "I've been messaging Star to tell me what you've been doing. She's not my target anymore." He bit Dipper's bottom lip and smiled in amusement. "And also to make you jealous. I was starting to get bored, you were getting predictable again. But then you went and did this." 

Dipper blushed deeply and that's when he heard the sound of the safety on a gun go off. Ford stood in the open doorway, his teeth gritted together angrily and laser gun raised directly at the smug looking demon.

"Looks like Fordzy's jealous too." The blood that had rushed to Dipper's face had been suddenly drained from his body. Like a deer caught in the headlights he stayed perfectly still between the sink and Bill, breathing heavily.

"Get the hell away from him." He gruffly demanded and Bill raised his hands in defense slowly and straightened from his lean over Dipper. He never once stopped smiling, even as Stanford demanded him to come with him.

"W-what- Great uncle Ford! I-I was the one who started it. Please, leave him alone!" Dipper confessed nervously but he was ignored. Mabel, Stan, Melody, and Soos watched from the doorway of the kitchen as Ford closed the front door roughly behind himself. He followed Bill out of the Shack with his laser gun pointed at his back.

Dipper didn't look at the others. He stared at the door in horror and could vaguely hear the yelling outside.

"You have no fucking right to take advantage of him like that, you bastard!" 

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Sixers. He was the one-"

"I don't care! He's a naive kid!"

Dipper clenched his fists in anger. But he did not move, he wanted to hear this.

"Maybe not as naive as you think."

There was a pause and Dipper could hear Bill laugh.

"Weren't you the one who stopped him from leaving because you saw how miserable he was without me? He's addicted to the taste of this meat suit now~!"

Mabel stepped into the hall with sympathetic smile. "Dipper, don't listen to them." She reached for his shoulder but he jerked away from her and kept his gaze focused on the door.

"Why are you messing with his emotions!?"

There was a pause and then Bill said in a dramatic rendition of realization, "You know what, I think I've developed feelings for him. Whadda y'know!" 

Dipper threw the door open just as his great uncle hit Bill over the head. The demon didn't flinch, a wide expectant smile was splayed across his face. He was waiting for Stanford to kill him. Had all of that just been a lie to get Ford to kill him? Dipper wanted throw up.

"Get out of here." Stanford grumbled and Bill sighed in disappointment but turned to give Dipper a wave accompanied by a grin, "See you soon, Pintree~!"

Dipper did not move from his place on the porch, nor did Ford until the giddy strut of Bill Cipher was out of sight.

"I'm sorry you had to hear that." Stanford started but Dipper ignored it and caught the older Pines' arm as he made his way for the front door, "I love him. I don't care what you think he does or doesn't feel, just stay out of it, okay?"

"He'll suck the life of you. You won't even recognize who you've become! And then he'll toss you to the side. He can barely grasp the concept of basic emotions, let alone something like love!" He looked sad and Dipper eased up a bit, saying in a softer voice, "Trust me. I'll be fine." He offered an awkward smile and Stanford laughed.

"I trust you. It's him I don't trust. I'll ease up. But if I find out he hurt you, I'll slit his throat. Consequences be damned."

He didn't like the coldness in the rough voice but nodded nonetheless. The door closed behind Stanford but Dipper stayed on the porch for awhile trying to catch up with all that had just happened.

There was buzz in his pocket and he pulled out his phone numbly.

Mabel: ["Next time, wear protection!"]

Dipper turned around and glared at Mabel with a hot face, who was laughing and pointing at him through the nearby window.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ford in this chapter reminded me of the mom from EraserHead mixed with Barney from the Andy Griffith Show oddly enough. 
> 
> And then there was Dipper babe putting the moves on Bill this time around~ quite an achievement on his part. Hope you look forward to more!


	36. Tripping On Berries

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I think it's been a month in this form of time since I posted. Sorry for the delay! I'm still working on this story, though! I haven't abandoned it!

The coin between his fingers wobbled uneasily but he clenched his fist tightly before releasing slowly. Dipper whence as the taste of ink blotted his tongue. Yet another thinking pen laid to waste by his clenched jaw.

What had possessed him to say those things to Stanford's face just the night before? Oh god, he'd told his great uncle that he was gay for his immortal archenemy. The relatively light tension between them regarding Bill's reappearance had turned thick and clotted. Dipper took up another blue pen and tightened his grip on the coin in his hand as he drew a diagram of a human heart as well as he could onto the page in his journal. This page would be a special section on documenting Bill's emotions. It was not guaranteed to have any results or findings; it was a shot in the dark and a blind leap. But with it Dipper hoped he could decipher the twisted blood tubes of Bill's heart.

There was banging on the study door and Stanford walked swiftly over to unlock the elevator doors which lead into the well-protected underground study. Dipper jumped in surprise and turned around when a loud and crazed laugh filled the room. McGucket was hugging Stanford tightly and the latter hesitantly patted his back in return.

"Alright, alright, freak. I let you down here, now stop strangling my brother." Stanley grunted out moodily as he emerged from the elevator at a sluggish pace. Fiddleford let go and Stanford caught his breath.

"FiddleFord, it's not that I'm upset to see you, but why on earth are you here?" The hillbilly's three-toothed grin fell and a tight lipped smile took up his face as he spoke seriously.

"I know I been sayin' I don't want no part of this weird stuff anymore on account of me losin' all my memories and what not, but I've been noticing things- unsettling things that I-I'd rather not have seen." Stanford patted his friend on the back comfortingly and lead him further into the room. Dipper took note of Stanley brooding against the wall, irritation clear on his face.

"Don't go wishing to forget again. You couldn't erase your memory even if you wanted to." Dipper closed his journal and tucked his coin into his pants pocket, his interest shifting predominantly to the odd conversation, "What did you see, anyway?"

"Ya know them mysterious earthquakes we've been havin'? Well, I been tracking them, just to be safe. And right I was to do so! They been gettin' stronger and bigger but they ain't normal. Fancy mirrors inside my garage have been smashing open."

"So the earthquakes are related." Stanford mumbled aloud. But before the scientist could disappear into his thoughts, FiddleFord continued on, growing increasingly anxious, "That ain't all of it. When I was chasing after my raccoon wife, on account I done let her slip outside on accident, we ended up in the woods and the device I had to alert me to when the earthquakes went off started hollerin'. I saw a mysterious lookin' human wanderin' up towards the mountains." Dipper had taken up a notepad and was writing down most of what McGucket said but raised an eyebrow at the end, "You saw a mysterious human? It didn't look like a hog monster?"

"I'm pretty sure. 'Course, I had been snacking on the woodland bush berries so it may not have existed at all." There was a long quiet between the group, only filled with Stanley's purposefully loud slurps of his soda to alert them all that he was still there. His brother shot him an irritated glance before turning back to his former lab assistant with a comforting smile, "Dipper and I will look into it anyway. Just to make sure. Thank you very much for alerting us to these earthquakes." 

"I'll send you a warning somehow when the next quake comes a rollin' into Gravity Falls." FiddleFord announced gravely as he turned back to Stanley who stood by the elevator entrance.

Stanford gave his old college friend a sympathetic look as he demanded seriously, "Be careful out there. If you need someone to talk to, buddy, my ears are always listening." He ignored Stan's teasing snicker and they all watched as the elevator opened and the multimillionaire hillbilly stepped inside. He gave a worried smile and tipped his hat to all three of the Pines, "I might just take you up on that offer one of these days." 

The metal doors slid shut and the sound of the elevator system getting it's exercise for the day was heard loudly in the walls of the steel room. 

"Well, now we have a lead! We'll leave bright and early tomorrow morning to-" Ford's excitement trailed off as Stanley grunted loudly. It mysteriously sounded like 'Asshole' to Dipper. 

Dipper was on the verge of asking his great uncle to continue when a sigh escaped the older man and he said with the utmost satisfaction. "Better make a rain check on that investigation. I promised Stanley we'd drive out and check on how the Stan 'O War II is holding up tomorrow. But we will resume our mission the moment I return, okay?"  
Dipper nodded and gathered up his notebooks, journal, and alien pens.

"Okay. Well, I've got to head upstairs. Mabel wanted to try and slingshot fruit at birds flying by or something like that." "Don't let the fruit bits attract ants to the shack." Ford warned and Stanley added breezily, "Just aim for the tree line- No, you should try your food slingshot out on the fucking hardware store. They suck."   
"Stanley!" Ford berated but Stan shrugged it off. "What? It's not like he hasn't heard it at school before." 

Dipper smiled at the pair as he stepped inside the empty elevator. It was almost disgustingly sweet how much their bickering alined with old married couple's. He honestly hoped that he and Mabel did not end up like that when they were old. Dipper gave them a quick wave goodbye as the elevator closed. He let out a deep breath when he knew that he couldn't be seen by anyone.

It was a nerve wracking feeling that creeped into his stomach, achingly slow at first, but quickly growing as the metal box breached from the earth and opened to let him out. He was extremely nervous about he and Stanford's new mission of heading into the mountains.

He bit his lip and looked down at his phone balancing on top of the book pile he carried.

Maybe he should get his mind off of it for a bit. He knew just the distraction inducer, whether it was a good idea or not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will update a lot sooner than later. Hope you enjoyed this chapter and look forward to the next chapter... It will be three times longer than this one, I think.


	37. A Distraction

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello~ remember how that ratings been bumped up? Yeah, keep that in mind in the proceeding chapter.

Dipper rung the doorbell with a clammy hand. He wasn't suicidal, was he? This seemed very suicidal. Or maybe he had hit his head somewhere along the line and this was the work of a brain damaged version of himself.

The Waters house, in all it's cookie-cutter normalcy, echoed with the chime of the doorbell hollowly. The boards on the exterior creaked unpleasantly around him and he took a deep breath to calm his nerves before ringing the doorbell again.  
The door clicked open after a moment and a grinning face crawled it's way into the gap of the doorway. A noticeable gold chain prevented it from opening more than an arm's width.

"I must say, I enjoy your forwardness for once, Pinetree. Do you realize how exposed your making that adorable underbelly of yours?" Dipper was unimpressed and shifted the backpack on his shoulder awkwardly, the heavy load becoming more apparent the longer he was left waiting.

"I-I just need a place to do some research for a few hours. Ford went fishing with Stan for a couple of days so I'm not allowed in the lab, and Mabel is having a sleepover." It wasn't a complete lie. He did need a place to work on this mirror business. He was just leaving out the fact that he wanted to see Bill.

There was a long mischievous hum and the door closed, followed by the sound of a click. The door opened once more, this time fully. "By all means, use my jail as your personal think tank. Really soak your brain while you're here. Maybe then you won't be so dry up in the chrome-dome."

The demon stepped aside and ushered Dipper inside. There came the sounds of the bolts being fastened behind him and he cringed. Bill caught this and pushed Dipper further into the house by the back of his head. "Georgina isn't home and she likes to scream about me leaving the door unlocked. As much as it's hilarious- her face turns this strangled purple color if I get her angry enough- I don't feel like getting yelled at today." Here he paused and added lewdly, "Not by her. But if you feel a compulsive desire to yell or even scream-"

"I'm going to ignore anything that was just said. Now, where can I lay out my things?" Bill shrugged and yanked Dipper by the arm too roughly. He squished to his side as he pointed towards the locations he suggested, "There's the dinning room, the bottom stairs living room, the second floor living room- _my room_ is also an option to consider."

This was weird. Bill was acting weirder than normal. Dipper pulled away from him with a raised eyebrow and took notice of the way Bill's long, gloved fingers twitched and shook him off uneasily. "I'll use your dinning room actually... Are you feeling alright?" 

"I feel like a sack made of human skin filled with shit." Well, that was something. The smile on Bill's face fell and he resumed pushing Dipper. This time towards the dinning room. "I can always go find somewhere else if you want to be alone or something." 

"Stay." Was the sudden flare of anger in his eye, as if the very suggestion of Dipper leaving was the stupidest thing he had ever heard. The shorter boy raised his hands in defense and sat down at the table nervously.

"Okay, I'll stay." Dipper announced warily as the demon had taken up the wooden chair beside his. He pulled out some of the many charts that he and Ford had been going over. When he no longer had room within his arm's reach for the documents, Dipper took to sitting on his legs upon the chair so that he could stretch across the table.

After sectioning off each paper into their related topics, Dipper began to set them in the order which he believed them to be connected: The mirrors in Gravity Falls stretching and breaking connected to Hog Monsters coming through The Tear. The Tear was connected to an unknown being trying to get in. Unknown being is causing earthquakes?

Dipper stared at the order for a long moment. It didn't quite fit. Was he missing something? An important element to bring it all together? He tabbed through the other articles neatly tuck into his backpack and paused on the graph that the anomaly scanner had taken. But he didn't pull it out. Instead he pulled out the notes of McGucket's statement from a few days before and turned to Bill.

A single gold eye was watching him intently. An expression so different and strange that Dipper found he had to look away, "Can I have a glass of wa-" "Sure thing." The demon stood from his chair abruptly, causing the wood to scrape on wood in a horribly loud scream that Dipper felt in his teeth.

The sound of water being poured behind him made him bothanxious and calm. Dipper took up his notes on what McGucket had come rambling into the lab about;

The earthquakes were another effect of the Hog Monsters crawling through, much like the mirrors. And then there was the humanoid creature that may or may not have been spotted heading towards the mountains at the same time that an earthquake happened.

His gut clenched at the sudden cold glove on the back of his neck that broke his thought process instantly. The glass of water was thrusted sloppily into his hand causing him to almost drop it and spill it over all of his notes. If that happened, Dipper would probably die.

"Thanks." He mumbled against the cup and took a big gulp. Funny how Bill had done something like getting him a glass of water without any verbal abuse or complaining. Whatever mood Bill was in, Dipper had mixed feelings about it. 

The glass, still half full, was set as far away from the papers as Dipper could reach on the long oak dinning table. "So this is what you and Fordzy are trying to figure out." A calculating gold eye slid leisurely over the documents. Dipper scratched his head with his pen and sighed in irritation, "Yeah, I'm trying to get some of the work done before Ford gets back and- What are you doing?" 

Bill didn't pause, and leaned in to catch Dipper's lips with his own. Dipper didn't fight it off and kissed the demon back hesitantly. However, he did pull back when Bill tried to deepen the kiss. This resulted in the mouth trailing along his exposed neck instead. A laugh escaped him at the feeling of the others lips crawling down his neck. 

"S-stop!" Dipper pleaded against the tickling sensation and the warmth of his face growing. Bill's lips parted and his tongue ran up the neck in a less innocent manner that his lips had. The feeling made Dipper shiver and his pushing against the other's face more earnest.

"Bill," he warned and the demon growled as he forced himself away from the delicious junction between neck and shoulder, an expectant glare directed at the flushed brunette. Dipper gulped and bit his lip to remind himself of reality and the consequences of letting this go any further. 

"W-we shouldn't-" "When can we?" The irritation in Bill's voice made Dipper irritated and he glared warily at the face mere inches from his. What right did the demon have to be irritated by the situation? God, he was starting to taste the anchovy smell that hung from Bill's lips. 

"You only want to because-" "And what if that's not my only reason?" Dipper's eyes almost popped in their sudden inflation and he sputtered off into some indignant noises. "Y-you're joking, aren't you?"

Bill stroked his hand over Dipper's flat stomach through the lose hanging t-shirt and shrugged carelessly. "Don't think about it too much, it will give you a brain ulcer. Trust me." With that, he reintroduced his mouth to Dipper's, calmer and less frantic.

Was this real?

Probably not. No one ever saw Dipper this way. No one ever loved him this way. Bill was probably doing this because he had ulterior motives. But he could cave a little, couldn't he? 

A growl escaped Bill and the sensation of hands crawling up his shirt had Dipper withering. He wrapped his arms around Bill's wide chest and moved his mouth against the increasingly aggressive one tentatively.

Was it Dipper or was the room growing suspiciously hot? Strange noises were spilling out between their tangled, slick tongues. He turned his head to the side and heaved gulps of air only turning back in a haze to those gloved hands ripping his shirt open easily. God damnit. His insides knotted up tightly as his pants began to feel constricting.

"S-slow down! Ah, Too fast." He managed to pant out in an annoyingly cracking voice. But he didn't want to slow down, he wanted everything as soon as he could have it. He was going insane. Bill ran his coarse leather gloves up Dipper's sides to the soft rose colored buds that framed his deliciously plain chest. 

He pinched and rubbed his nipples causing Dipper to draw in a sharp breath. There was something addictive about those noises. Bill wanted to touch him, every inch of his meat suit, and then he wanted Dipper's soul. The very idea that he was being offered both made a victorious grin climb at the corners of his mouth.

Dipper's hands ripped and pulled sinfully at the soft blond hair and Bill rolled his hips up into his in response. Dipper shuttered out a sigh.

"B-Bill, the table is hurting my back." Kisses fell on Dipper's cheek and the demon hummed pleasantly. Rubbing his face much like a small child into Dipper's neck before picking him up easily. 

Dipper wasn't sure if this whole carrying thing was such a good idea. But Bill was carrying him towards the stairs anyway. Dipper squeezed his legs around him tightly when his back hit the stair railing. "Oh my god, put me down! You can't even see where you're going!" 

"I don't need to see, I know where everything is." The demon boasted right before ramming Dipper's back into the second story couch, knocking the wind out of his lungs. "That's it!" Dipper announced and slid out of Bill's tight grip on his thighs to stand on his own. 

"We're going to walk up the stairs like normal people or I'm not going to do any of this!" There was a vacant look in Bill's eye that Dipper assumed was the demon attempting to understand what he meant by 'normal', and so, he elaborated. If this went on much longer the mood would be gone completely. 

"And here I thought you _liked_ weird things." Dipper took up one of the gloved hands and tugged the bemused demon after him, up the creaking stairs. "Not when it hurts." He corrected. Bill gave his butt a harsh slap which had the latter glaring back at him with an increasing blush creeping up his exposed chest. "I'll make you change your mind soon enough~"

Nothing was said about the lightly charred remains of Bill's obsessive stalking as the door to the demon's den was shoved open. Lips were too busy unraveling the secrets to their mutual addiction. The feeling of soft hands trembling, but desperate to remove Bill's shirt. The sensation of rough leather gloves ghosting over Dipper's exposed back as his torn shirt was quickly thrown out of the way.

Dipper pulled away for a breath of air and followed as Bill sat on the edge of the bed. A bitterness lingered in the sheets over the soft cushion underneath them and as he pulled Bill's shirt off he asked in no more than a whisper, "Tell me what you really think about me, Bill. Please." 

There was a long moan when gloves brush the sensitive flesh of Dipper's lower back and his spine arched away from the touch instinctively. Bill's teeth sunk into the red earlobe by his face before he gritted out, "I'm showing you, aren't I?" 

"Just- What are you feeling here?" Dipper ran his finger over the various self inflicted claw marks etched into Bill's chest. Muscles spasmed under his touch and his hand was ripped away by a clenched, covered hand.

"My blood sack is about to pop so I wouldn't put your pretty little baby hand there. It's like acid spewing worms are munching their way out from the inside of my human bits. I want to throttle you so hard that your head snaps off, but then there's something inside of me, with sentient thoughts that don't seem to be my own, that tells me not to hurt you. It's all really nauseating." 

Dipper kissed his demon- **his** demon but couldn't help the smile from overtaking his lips. Bill didn't pull away from the kiss, taking up the hobby of kissing anything and everything that made up the being that was Dipper Pines. 

"I feel, um, the same thing- more or less." He said distractedly, more focused on the hand that was on his bare chest and pushing him to lay out on the mattress. A creeping anxiousness burned in his throat. The hand was holding him to the bed, it made him uncharacteristically claustrophobic.

"You don't like it when I pin you like this. You're getting soft down here, kid." Bill observed in amusement and reached for Dipper's half hard member. "Don't! I just- can we, um try doing this my way?" 'My way.' His mind scoffed. Bill may have been too aggressive but at least he seemed to know how to make things feel the way he assumed they should. 

"And what way is that, Pinetree?" Came the drawled out answer that was really just a deflection so that he could slowly pop the buttons of Dipper's shorts open. Dipper promptly sat up. "Um, f-first of all, take off your gloves. They're really rough and I just don't like them, okay?" Bill complied and slowly tugged the black leather from his marked skin.

Dipper squeezed his eyes shut. The heat of his face threatened to leave him unconscious as he relayed his other request, "And could you possibly, maybe not make this like last time?" 

Bill brushed his bare hand down Dipper's equally bare chest and felt the shutter shake through his body. "Fine." He simply said before removing his own slacks that carried his underwear with them. Dipper's eyes widened and he looked away in embarrassment, "Oh, wow. Okay. You're just going to do that without a warning."

"I already did it. It's funny how you can't bring yourself to look at me when I'm not wearing clothes but when I am you're perfectly fine with staring at my human anatomy." Dipper covered his face with his hands as the brief moment he had just seen the harden cock dangling above him played over and over behind his eyes. "That is a **completely normal** thing to do! Wait, no. I don't c-check you out or anything! At least, not all the time- and I'm just going to stop talking before I start to admit to equally embarrassing things."

"No, I insist, go ahead and admit all your little secrets to me." Bill sure sounded amused, he tugged at Dipper's pants with a hint of annoyance. Hesitantly, Dipper pulled his hands away from his face and assisted with his shorts but he forced Bill's eager hands away and pulled off his underwear on his at his own agonizingly slow pace.

And then, there was silence. Dipper forced himself to man up and meet the demon's glazed over gaze. His eyes remained on Bill's face and he watched self-consciously as the other made a show of looking over the body in front of him.

Dipper flinched as he felt fingers close around lose skin on his hips and knead it harshly. "Fleshy. The more I squeeze it the more blood rushes to it! I have to admit, it's a lot less pathetic than last time I saw it. You know, when I possessed you and all." Dipper nearly choked on his own spit indignantly. 

"Please tell me you didn't do anything like this to my body without me knowing." Bill waved it off. His hands, itching to do something, were finally were let lose. He pushed Dipper back against the bed with the extra weight of his body pressed flush against Dipper's, "I wouldn't mind eating the flesh right off your bones right now. Your skin it just so pliable." He made his point by giving Dipper's stomach a nice, fleshy tug.

Before Dipper could even manage to think up a response, Bill was grinding his hard on up into Dipper's. White, blindly white light coursed through Dipper's vision and there was no hiding the loud moan.

Bill seemed to consume the noises of pleasure spilling from the body beneath him as he rubbed the both of them together three or four times. But that wasn't enough and quickly grew boring. He leaned down and sucked harshly on Dippers jaw and nipped at his swollen lips before pulling back and taking up one of the tan legs, forcing himself into the gap he had created.

"I'm going to push into you now." He said bluntly and Dipper sat up in utter horror. "Like hell you are! Don't you know about... Stretching and stuff?" Bill maintained an amused grin but rolled his eye. "I was just 'pulling your leg', Pinetree." He emphasize his crude joke by tugging Dipper's legs further apart.

Growing more serious, Bill reached over the mop of brown hair to grab the tube under his inconspicuous pillow. When he noticed Dipper narrowing his eyes in suspicion, Bill shrugged, "You were bound to cave at some point." Dipper was offended but found his attention was drawn by the disgusting squelching noise as Bill emptied the tube out into his hand and threw it's useless remains somewhere to the side.

"Do you really need all of that?" "The question is 'do **you** need all of this.' And the answer is no- But~! Better safe than sorry, right?" He didn't push the subject along any further, but Dipper had a feeling that Bill just wanted to make a huge mess. 

There was an excitement in the way Bill rubbed his slick hands over both of their members, pulling at them a few times before trailing them past Dipper's weeping tip, down to the twitching pucker of muscles. When he ran his finger around the lip it contracted and Dipper whined anxiously, "B-be careful."

What kind of boyfriend would Bill be if he didn't listen to such a innocently pronounced request?

And so, Bill's finger wiggled it's way in forcefully.

"A-ah, fuck! Stop that you idiot! Oh my god... This was a mistake, this was a fucking mistake." His breath was coming in sharply and shakily out. 

"If anyone is an idiot its you. Why don't you stop clenching? If I just put in another finger in-". "No! Don't you **dare**!" Tears of pain started to line his eyes and he took a deep breath to try and calm himself before saying as steadily as he could manage, "Bill, just give me a second to adjust and then I'll, uh... Tell you when I'm ready." Reluctantly, the blonde agreed.

Slowly but surely, Dipper guided Bill into stretching him at a pace he was comfortable with. It wasn't the greatest of feelings- it had to be the most awkward and embarrassing experience of his life- but he powered through it. He wanted to do this with Bill.

There was a brief sensation of pleasure when three of Bill's fingers were lazily pumping in and out and one brushed that bundle of nerves that had him arching his back and pushing back into the fingers with hopes of them touching that spot again.

Now the fingers had slipped out and Bill was wiping the remaining globs of lube messily over himself. His hand guided the head to the thoroughly prepared entrance. "You look scared." He pointed out obviously and Dipper huffed nervously. "Yeah, and I bet you like that." He cringed when the head was pushed inside and Bill hummed lowly, "You know I do~!"   
"Don't move!" Dipper demanded but the demon was growing tired of the waiting games and shallowly thrusted back and forth, the speed picking up when it elected a mouth watering scream of pain and pleasure. 

Dipper withered at the intense pain and clenched around the forced entrance only succeeding at making it more painful. "Bill, stop! It hurts!" Bill slowed but did not stop, his desire of being fully submerged winning over the voices in his head telling him not to make his human hurt. "Relax your body. If you don't, this is only going to be pleasurable for me."  
'Okay okay.' Dipper's mind began, 'Bill likes it rough, but you can make this better. Calm down, stop panicking.' Bill realized Dipper's tears and uncomfortable expression etched into his face and tried to think of what he could do to make it more bearable.

Kisses were pressed to Dipper's cheek, licks stole the salty residue from the corners of his eyes, and murmurs of him being 'too sensitive' were pressed against his forehead. Dipper met his eyes with a grateful smile, "I love you."

This seemed to draw a strange almost disturbed expression to Bill's face and he said in a round about sort of way, "I don't believe that's a thing. At least, it's not a feeling like you think but more of the sensation of longing and decaying souls, which I admit to have started feeling creeping in on me this summer. It must be easier for simpletons with one life span to chalk it up to being 'love' instead of the need for sex and social status before they die."

Dipper stared at him expectantly and Bill sighed dramatically, "But if you want me to use laymen's terms, my meat suit compels me to 'love' you. Now don't you feel all high and mighty, getting me to say that?" He teased sarcastically. His thrusts, which had almost gone completely still, now picked up and Dipper pushed his hips down to meet him every time.

The stretch of his insides seemed less painful after Bill's rambling and semi heartfelt confession had given him time to adjust to the length. The bed shook as they grew more frantic and flesh slapped loudly together. Dipper cried out when his sweet pot was hit dead on and, with a few more noisy thrusts, he came between their stomachs. 

Everything was suddenly so... So blissfully numb. He was well aware that Bill was mumbling in no language he had ever heard as he released with a few more thrusts. There was the obscene feeling of hot Bill sliding out of him as he road it out before he pulling out completely and collapsing on top of Dipper, who groaned irritatedly. They were gross, disgustingly sticky and sweaty- Oh but Dipper loved it.

Even though he was having trouble breathing under the extra weight his arms wrapped around Bill's waist. It was disturbingly slim for how broad a ribcage he possessed. The other ran his fingers through Dipper's hair, but soon stopped, whipping the sweat off it's owners face.

The lull of sleep was tugging at his eyes and Dipper didn't fight it. He hoarsely whispered some gibberish about how he love him and how Bill wasn't such a bad guy when he wanted to be. He was off to his mindscape and Bill watched him as he went. 

But he wouldn't be joining him. There were things he needed to destroy downstairs.


	38. Surprisingly Normal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy shit. long time no see, eh? My ipod (which I had been writing and posting this story from) took a crap and I had stupidly not saved any of the chapters I had written to my email or something. Luckily, Mysterious Mr.K had saved all the chapters besides one which I had been writing still. It took longer than it should have, but now I am ready to start writing and posting again. Mr.K did not spellcheck this chapter but I gave it a once over so it should be fine.
> 
> without further ado, enjoy this very late update!

In fourth grade, Dipper and Mabel's parents signed them up for a co-ed soccer team in hopes that the two of them would branch off from each other and learn 'the true value of teamwork' as their mother had read from the pamphlet.

 

This idea had worked well enough for Mabel, not only did she get along with everyone on the team, her energy levels made her the fastest. _She_ loved soccer. Dipper, on the other hand, hated soccer. When he wasn't on the bench (which was most of the time) he was being shoved into the dirt, over thinking who to kick the ball to, and ultimately receiving cuts and bruises-from his own teammates.

 

When Dipper would wake up the day after practice his whole body ached and he had thought miserably, ' _Nothing in the world is more painful than waking up after soccer practice._ '

 

Oh, if he only knew what he knew now.

 

Everything ached. **Everything.** Dipper didn't want to open his eyes ever again. He groaned and shoved his sweaty face deeper into the pillow. Had his pillow always smelled like perfume and rancid meat? No, this was Bill's pillow, Bill's bed, even. 

 

' _Oh no. Dipper what did you **do**?_ ' his mind screamed at him but he pushed it away. The sound of his heart pulsating in his burning red ears was not going to let him drift off again. What time was it anyway? When questions such as that were arising from his haggard brain, there was no escaping consciousness.

 

Slowly, he cracked one eye open and lifted his head from Bill scented cushion. There was no indication of time in the dark room and he supposed that was the very reason Bill liked it. Where was that demon anyway? 

 

After the awkward and painful process of prodding himself out of bed, Dipper attempted to rub out the knot in his back as he scavenged around for something to cover himself with, his pants and underwear would be nice. But they were nowhere to be seen.

 

"You sure slept an awful long time, kid." The owner of the room cut in. He was leaning against the door frame, a cup of steaming liquid raised to his lips. Dipper froze, like a deer in headlights as the blush seeped into his exposed body. 

 

Teeth clenched, he grabbed up the sheets from the bed and covered himself as best as he could. "S-stop staring! It's creeping me out." This was horrible. Dipper felt guilt and shame digging at his stomach. 

 

"Still playing the act of the virgin? Don't worry, now that you've tasted the satisfaction of lust you won't be singing that tune much longer, Pinetree." 

 

Dipper didn't look up as the demon approached, but he felt the once again gloved hand patting his head and could see the gold buckle of the black leather belt holding the loose pen striped slacks standing before him.

 

"I don't think I'll ever get use to this sort of thing." Dipper mumbled out. Even with the glove on Bill's hand, he felt a warmth in his chest caused by the gentle patting and he chanced a glance up to Bill disturbingly wide smile.

"So, um. Where are my clothes?"

 

 

It took some time, but Dipper managed to get his clothes back (minus the shirt which he was then compensated with one of the demon's more casual plain black t-shirts) in one piece. He had contemplated using the shower but then Bill wanted to take a shower with him and Dipper wasn't interested in having a repeat of before in the slippery box. He would just have to deal with the filth and smell of sex until he was back at the Mystery Shack.

 

"Hey, by the way. What time is it?" Dipper asked as he followed Bill down the stairs. "Time is irrelevant, meaningless, Pinetree. The sun has gone down then up from the moment I pinned you to the table if that's what you were wondering about."

 

"Seriously?" He asked rhetorically and hurried into the dining room to grab up his things, but stopped in the doorway when he saw a clean dining room table, all his articles and notes missing from their chaotic neatness a top the surface. His backpack resting against the leg of the chair.

 

"The old lady is a neat-freak so I packed your thing back into your bag knowing that you would probably have a nerd attack if she threw it all away." Bill explained and Dipper went over to his bag and unzipped it to see it close to overflowing, just like how expected it to be. He sighed in relief and pulled out his phone from the front pouch as he stood, slinging the heavy load over his shoulder and checked his messages.  
Two voice messages and and thirteen texts.

 

Voice message 1; ["Hey dude, just wondering where you are. I'm suppose to be watchin' you for Mr.Stans and all. Give me a call back soon, okay?- also we're having pizza tonight so you don't wanna miss out!"]

 

Voice message 2: ["Dipper, it's me, Stanford. Stanley and I are on our way back. I need you to make room in the fridge, we caught a few salmons and what not. Also, start to pack up previsions for our mission. I'll explain the details in person. See you soon."

 

All the texts were from Mabel telling him to answer her about where he was and if he was spending the night somewhere.  
With a tired sigh, he shoved his phone into the pocket of his shorts and looked to impatient demon. "Guess I should head back, now." "You're welcome for the shirt and saving your research and all that. Not that you would remember to thank you or anything."

 

Right. Dipper smiled and leaned up and pressed a chest kiss to the corner of Bill's lips. "Thanks." That was apparently unsatisfactory for the demon who remained unimpressed. "That's all I get? Talk about cheap."

 

When they reached the front door, Bill undid the locks and opened it wide for Dipper who hesitated in the door frame. "I'll be gone a few days I think. Ford and and I are doing some investigating in the mountains so-" "Really? That's so interesting." Dipper paused, and looked the demon over. He certainly didn't sound interested in their research in the slightest and somehow he felt like was Bill was trying to offend him. "Yeah, it is." "Really?" "Yes. Really."

 

"Then I'll tag along with you." The sudden change in tone left Dipper reeling and he had to ask "What?" Just to make sure he was hearing him right. "I want to come on your investigation with Fordzy." 

 

Dipper bit his lip before letting out a long breath "Maybe another time. Ford still hates your guts, you know." There was a tension filled silence. An unspoken secret Dipper wanted to ask the demon about but it's answer whether it be true or not could ruin what they just started.

 

"Anyway. I'll see you later." Dipper concluded. Bill leaned in and gave the shorter mouthful of tongue and spit, he attempted to pin Dipper to the door frame and prolong the kiss but he quickly turned and untangled his lips from the other as he stepped out on the porch with a flushed face. "See you around, Mason." 

 

Oh, jeez. Why did he have to say his name like that? Dipper just nodded, face burning in utter embarrassment as he left the porch in a hurry.

Half way back to the Mystery Shack and a strange feeling suddenly overtakes him. Something had been too natural about his parting from Bill. _Something_ had been odd in a 'not normal Bill' way. Dipper stopped on the corner of the street nearing the edge of the main streets in town and removed his backpack from his shoulder. He hesitated for only for a moment before unzipping it and riffling through it. Hoping that his suspicions were wrong...

The anomaly graph was gone. Dipper sagged in disappointment. "Bill, you idiot. What did you do this time?"


	39. To The Enchanted Woods

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> had lots of fun writing this chapter. It felt more like book than a fanfic. hope you enjoy it!

The timing of Ford and Dipper's mountain exploration couldn't be worse. At least, that was what Stanley's irritated mumbles proclaimed throughout the hasty process of the two 'geeks' preparing for the journey.

 

Stanford had taken to ignoring his brother's complaints while he packed. He knew that the best way of dealing with his twin when he was in one of his 'moods' was to just let it simmer out and apologize with a six pack of beer and a good old fashioned round of poker after the kids had gone to sleep.

 

The lack of protest _his_ twin had given him when he told her of the trip almost disappointed Dipper. Mabel had been reading some sweater pattern catalog that looked positively boring to Dipper when he sat on the edge of her bed. She met his eyes curiously and he explained as little as possible about the reasoning behind the trip so as not to make her worry about his safety. She had just told him to have fun and to Snapchat her if he had any signal before turning back to her knitting instructions book disturbingly placid about the whole affair. He almost felt compelled to tell her that, no, it wouldn’t be fun, he would be tracking a powerful monster that could very well be able to rip him limb from limb, but he refrained himself.

 

Why couldn't she have had the same reaction when he told her he was going home earlier than normal? Maybe he was suppose to be grateful for the lack of drama in the conversation.

 

"Dipper, focus." The demanding tone jarred the younger Pines, who looked up from the dirt he was currently ruining his shoes with to his great uncle's swaying backpack in front of him. 

 

"I wasn't _not_ focusing." Dipper mumbled and Ford gave him a look over his shoulder, as if sarcastically stating 'Really.' So maybe Dipper hadn't been completely listening to his mentor's long list of things to watch out for and or avoid at all costs in the woods. He was pretty sure scouts had taught him all that when he was ten... Well, besides the whole part about creatures that rarely appeared in any other place but Gravity Falls.

 

It was Bill that was clogging his mind. Distracting him from the mission at hand. The graph had ‘mysteriously’ vanished after Bill had packed away his research away for him. It should have struck him as odd the moment the demon started to explain. Bill Cipher did not do kind things for people without some ulterior motive. How could he have overlooked that? Maybe because at the time Dipper had been trying not to think about Bill's face looming over his, concentration drawn on his lips as he focused on thrusting into Dipper's sweet spot. And oh, the feeling of his teeth raking against his lip… Shit.

 

He needed to stop fantasizing. What would Ford think if he noticed how red Dipper had gotten? He could always blame it on the sunburn creeping up the rise in flesh which banked the edge of his eye-sockets. His really did need to stop thinking about it; obsessing over guys was not a trait that he wanted share with his sister.

 

Right. Mission time... But still, Dipper was a bit put out by the separation so soon after such a milestone in both their relationship and Bill's understanding of his human form- And Bill stealing evidence that would link him to this investigation. Okay, that was the last thought of all of it. Dipper had gotten it all out of his system and now he was fully aware of their surroundings. 

 

Actually, he recognized the area from one of Ford's journals. The trees were coated in a disgustingly magical blueish-green moss that sparkled. Another indicator was the red mushrooms. He carefully stepped over them as the little sign had said to do a few feet back. If Stanford and Dipper continued further, they would be entering the Enchanted section of the forest and the small town that the Gnomes and Barf Fairies seemed to gravitate to would undoubtedly be on their path. Some fifty yards past _that_ and a hop-skip over a river would land them at the sparkly gates to the unicorns. Ugh. They weren't going to them, were they?

 

The Gnomes that loitered around looked over the two normal sized males with vaguely interested glances. Apparently, humans weren't as interesting to tiny bearded men as singing their disturbingly happy jingles and running around like anxious squirrels. 

 

Ford crouched down near Gnasty's tavern, assessing it's short and narrow passage with a long and thoughtful 'hmm'. Finally, Dipper broke their stiff silence with a slight attitude lacing his question, "Great uncle Ford, why are we even here? I was under the impression that this whole 'other dimensional beings trying to take over our world' thing was kind of a time sensitive situation." What? He couldn't help being moody when they had been hiking all day and didn't seem to be making much progress.

 

"Think you can still get inside?" He asked thoughtfully, ignoring Dipper's complaint, who turned his attention to the small door he had had trouble squeezing through last year he explored the Enchanted woods. To think that he would fit after yet another (minor as they may have been) set of growth spurts was relying on him being short, which he believed was no longer the case.  
"I don't think so- Wait, why?" Stanford stood slowly and brushed off the dirt that clung to the knees of his pants and gave a sigh to begin his explanation, "We aren't going to the mountain straight away. Our mission is to first ask around about this humanoid. If we recklessly hike the two day journey into the mountains without knowing if they even exist we could waste more time than we can afford." 

 

Oh, right. The 'thing' they were hunting down could turn out to be nothing more than McGucket seeing things after eating the wrong kind of berries. Dipper chewed at his lip as his mind started to slip back into deeper thoughts and suspicions which he had been avoiding. Stanford watched the oblivious teen with an unamused glance. He liked it better when his grand nephew didn't bring his love for mysteries into his love-life. It had been so much easier to excite Dipper with investigating before Bill had gone and laid the secrets of the universe at his fingertips if he only handed over his soul. Damnit. He shouldn't think about it. It only pissed him off.

 

"So, wanna give it a try or are we just going to stand here and stare at it?" This seemed to snap Dipper from his thoughts (for the umpteenth time) and he nodded, his eyebrows drawn together as he forced himself to concentrate. "Yeah, I'll give it a try. I'm just not sure if I'll fit." He crouched down and opened the door. "It's bigger on the inside. You'll be surprised." With the semi reassuring reminder from Ford, Dipper started to crawl on his arms and legs through the hole. His shoulder got stuck in the doorframe and several Gnomes laughed their tiny butts off at the sight. Switching tactics, Dipper hunched his shoulders in towards his chest and he was able to just barely squeeze through. And then his hips were caught. Oh god, it was really not helping his growing embarrassment that the tiny breaded drunks were whooping with laughter at the sight. If he wasn't already halfway inside, Dipper would have turned back and told his Grunkle he just couldn't do it. 

 

There was a rough shove to his butt and he was inside the tree tavern. That hadn't been Stanford, had it? There were no angry Gnomes strong enough to shove him that hard. How humiliating. 

 

Pushing his embarrassment away, Dipper stood and walked over to the bar where the Gnome behind the counter poured tree sap into a mug and handed it to the Gnome beside Dipper, clearly the toxins in the sap were offering them a buzz. 

 

"What'll it be human?" The gruff voice of the bartender asked and Dipper offered a sheepish smile before remembering his job here. "I'm here for info. Any of your customers talk about a mysterious human by the the mountains?" He received a narrow glare. Thinking quickly, Dipper pulled whatever he had in his pocket out to bargain with and found a piece of lint and a bag of skittles. The gnome's eyes glinted with interest and Dipper smiled confidently. "You've got a bit of a sweet tooth, don't you?"

 

The tiny man looked almost offended. "What? No! The lint, give it to me!" ...Okay? Dipper held it away from his reach, "Not until you tell me what I want to know."

 

"Fine! 'Bout a week ago, some regulars of mine said they saw massive monster coming down from the mountains bleeding a lot- now gimme!" "What did the creature look like? Was it dark with a hog face?" The bartender stopped reaching for the lint, meeting Dipper's eyes seriously. "That thing was no creature. It was a monster." 

 

Dipper was about to ask more when a Gnome behind him smacked his hand and the bartender grabbed up the lint before the human could stop him. "Thank Shmarvel." He called to the one who had hit Dipper's hand and was given a thumbs up in return, "No problem, Gnasty!"

 

"What did the 'monster' look like?" Dipper demanded but he already knew the bartender wouldn't be telling him anymore than he already had. As expected, the bartender shrugged "I don't have to answer that." Dipper sighed and started to turn towards the door when the Gnome behind the log bar counter added seriously, "Watch out for yourself... That thing you're looking for won't hesitate to kill you." 

 

After Dipper had wiggled himself out the tavern door, he straightened himself out. Wiping the dirt from his clothes, he looked around for his uncle, but he was gone from sight. This drew a panic in his chest as images of a horrifying monster dragging him off into the woods came to mind.  
A chill ran up his spine when realized that all of the Gnomes were hiding in the bases of trees and under mushroom tops. 

 

Something was watching him from not far away, he could feel the eyes on him. He chewed his lip, looking around anxiously.

 

A hand grabbed hold of his shoulder and he screamed in surprise, whacking Stanford's hand away. Wait. Oh. "S-sorry, great uncle Ford!" The older eyed him, still recovering from the sudden scream and asked incredulously, "Nature called- not literarily this time- and so I had to step away. Who else would be grabbing you in these woods?" 

 

"Maybe me~?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Might not post next Monday but I will try for the Monday after that.


	40. And Then That Thing Happened In The Woods

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My Christmas present to you~! Hope you enjoy it!

Ford was not happy. 

 

A campfire had been started as the sun set behind the pine trees. Dipper swatted Bill's hand away from reaching to catch the whipping ends of electrons changing energy levels and releasing photons with equivalent energies in a curious golden red and blinding white blend. It was only eight and yet he was exhausted from the stress of the events which occurred earlier in the day.

 

An odd mix of anger and shame had clogged Dipper's throat when Bill had so casually jumped down in front of the two Pines from a tree overhead. Of course there was a certain overwhelming sense of happiness screaming at him to be happy too, but danger signs were brightly strobing behind his eyes. Dipper glared at the demon and held up his hand as a warning when Bill had tried to come closer.

 

"Why the heck are you here?" He demanded, Bill grinned mischievously, "You invited me!" "No, I told you _**not**_ to come!" The demon showing up here and the missing graph was not making a case in Bill’s favor. What was he thinking?

 

"Why did you tell him in the first place?!" Stanford piped in and Dipper shrunk back a bit. "Because, he's so considerate~! He told me all about your little research project -even showed me your notes- so that I wouldn't get lonely wondering where he had gone off to." A disgustingly guilty feeling clung to Dipper's skin when Stanford had shot him an accusing look filled with anger and just a bit of pain.

 

And so, Bill had joined their hiking exploration because what else could they do? Considering Bill was now becoming a suspect they couldn’t let him wander around in the woods unmonitored. The brilliant idiot hadn't packed anything and had taken to mooching off of Dipper’s supplies. He had caught Bill at one point, trying to steal his dinner out of his pack as they walked. Seriously. Dipper no longer missed him because now he remembered how annoying he could be.

 

Stanford had refused to acknowledge Bill's presence and when he spoke to Dipper it was overly tactful and held the slightest hint of anger to everything he said. It was somewhat impressive that his great uncle had managed to make "careful, the ground's loose here" sound like a threat.

 

"Hey Pinetree, do you like watching old people brood as well? We really _are so _compatible!" Dipper glared at Bill's blatant attempt to rail Stanford's temper before standing, "Bill, we need to talk in private. Right now." His great uncle's eyes glanced up for a moment from where he was carving a wood stake and watched warily as the demon followed his grand nephew away from the campfire.__

__

__Dipper stopped them when they had put a good distance between the campsite and themselves. "Why are you really here." "Because I missed your-" "Bill, I've gotten pretty good at seeing when you're lying." He pointed out, his words not even trying to disguise the bitterness they held. "Or you've just gotten really bad at hiding it."_ _

__

__Bill's grin brightened and he pressed two fingers to Dipper's neck. "I need more of your blood." Dipper yanked away from Bill and felt himself growing pale as if the demon before him had already gone ahead and started to drain him. "No. No way!" "C'mon! Your pulse picked up when I mentioned it. You feel a rush at the idea of offering yourself up to me, admit it. I could make it pleasurable if you want.~"_ _

__

__Taking in a deep breath, Dipper spoke with the utmost amount of seriousness, "You know, the fact that you're here right now and trying to get more blood from me is making you seem like you're involved in all of this." Bill pressed him back into a tree gently but didn't try anything. "That's hilarious. You honestly think I'd be as juvenile as to let a bunch of Xppelib Pzrjyxdp do my dirty work? They have nothing to do with my plan."_ _

__

__"What _is_ your plan? Are you still trying to get me to kill you while you kill my family and I somehow?" He wanted to know what his demon had been up to behind his back. Why had he taken the graph? He wanted to know if Bill really was the problem forming in Gravity Falls. But what if he was? What would Dipper do then? Bill's hands hooked around the brunette's neck with a lazy smile, as if this conversation was only mildly amusing. "No, you don't have to worry about it." Oh how he wanted to believe that._ _

__

__Bill’s lips pressed into his and sparks formed between them as the energy levels shifted, much like the campfire that now felt a million miles away from them, but Dipper quickly pulled away before he got swept away. "What about the Gnomes?"_ _

__

__The interruption made Bill tighten his jaw in annoyance and mumble out "What about them." Dipper reluctantly pushed him away so he could maintain his thoughts, and to try and read his facial reaction "They were terrified of you." With a groan of irritation, Bill gave up on trying to seduce Dipper into shutting the hell up and responded quickly, "I'm kinda famous around here after Weirdmageddon. Unlike humans, my meat suit doesn't work on them. My only plan at the moment is to devour you alive. You really should attempt to look less edible, Pinetree."_ _

__

__Lips came back to Dipper's, but again, the shorter pushed him away. “What about the graph you stole? What about that, Bill?” the light tension clotted instantaneously and a very dark look gleamed in Bill’s eye. Dipper gulped in a bit of air and suddenly took notice to the pocket knife in Bill’s gloved hand. “Ask as many questions as you want to, Pinetree. But don’t ask me that.” Why? Dipper’s lips drew down, bringing a grin back to Bill’s pale face. “Aw~ don’t be like that! Curiosity killed the cat. You don’t want to die, do you?” “You know, the more you talk the more I don’t think It’s such a good idea to give you anything.”_ _

__

__"Ah, but you aren’t a good person so how would you judge what’s right? No one really is. But unlike everyone else, you actually believe that you are good. You ignore the fact that you like playing in the dark, like the way it feels when it overwhelms you, takes you hard. I mean, you fell for me after all and I practically am darkness itself!” ‘Darkness itself’? Could he be any more full of it? It was probably bad that Bill’s words were not bothering him(or make him burst with laughter) - they were actually, kinda hot. Since when was Dipper into that sort of stuff? Apparently it was a something he had contracted from the demon- It wasn’t as if Bill was trying to bother him either, he knew exactly what kind of effect it was having on the slightly shorter. That fucking bastard was grinning like a loon._ _

__

__When The blond watched the frown slip into hesitation on the face before him, he added in a light breath “I hadn’t been able to do much of any kind of magic for sixteen years! So when I was able to use your blood sacrifice to increase my magic strength but the well ran dry. I used it all up before I even noticed.” Bill grabbed hold of his own deathly pale cheeks and stretched them out before letting them slap back in place “Of course now that this body has tasted my true magic it’s going to slowly rot away around me unless I have my magic constantly to fuel it. A greedy little multicellular organism, isn’t it? I much prefer my self sustaining form." Dipper still looked skeptical. Bill had to lay it on real thick, huh? He reached out the gloved hand that didn’t hold the knife and held Dipper’s hand. "Hand holding, eh~? Remember? You said you liked this sort of thing - and see? I’m doing it. C’mon, don’t you trust me?" Dipper bit his lip anxiously, "No, I really really don’t. But... you can have a little of my blood- Only enough so that you won't die." Bill grinned and gave his human a quick kiss on the nose "How thoughtful~!" It had been the hand holding, hadn’t it? Bill would need to keep it in mind that it was a weakness of Dipper’s._ _

__

__Without so much as a warning, his shirt was was yanked up and the demon shifted the pocket knife into Dipper’s hand, who looked ready to question him but Bill quickly explained “It has to be you or else I’m going to lose an arm or something, remember?” The gloved hand guided Dipper’s shaking hand to his chest, who sucked in a breath as the blade sliced across his chest in one swift movement. It stung like hell but the pain was quickly covered by lips that sucked desperately at the crimson liquid trailing down quivering flesh. Bill had dropped down to Dipper’s chest instantly. He was ravenous and wouldn’t let a single drop hit the ground and be wasted... Dipper hated to admit it, but he was kinda into this. His gaze moved away from Bill to where he still held the knife, coated in his own blood. His eyes flickered back to the demon, lapping at his chest with obscene noises and then back to the knief._ _

__

__Dipper could kill him right now. He had no idea what would happen if he did and he was curious… He dropped the knife when he realized how insane those thoughts were. Holy shit. Had he really contemplated that? Maybe Bill had been right; Dipper wasn’t as good as he thought he was._ _

__

__When the shallow cut began to clot and no blood was given, Bill gave the chest several kisses and, not passing up the chance, gave each nipple a quick squeeze between his teeth. A small gasp escaped his lips and Bill was standing straight again, kissing those lip with the taste of blood overwhelmingly strong between them. It was becoming a feverish mess. Small noises escaped between their joined tongues and Bill reached for Dipper’s pants zipper- That was when Dipper decided that they really ought to be getting back to the campsite. They had been gone a least six minutes, any longer and he knew Ford would come looking for them._ _

__

__It was a struggle, but he had managed to make the demon understand the concept of why it was such a bad idea to mess around in the woods. Dipper hated the idea of stopping too but he would never say that out loud. It was neither the time nor the place to be doing that sort of thing._ _

__Stanford was standing, poking at the burning logs with a stick in hopes of keeping the fire burning longer when they returned. He was still frowning silently when Dipper announced obviously, "We're back." Could he be anymore awkward? Shit, what’ve his great uncle knew what they had been doing? No. his thoughts reminded himself that it was impossible to just know things… but then he also supposed his lack of eye contact could be telling on it’s own._ _

__

__Bill stepped towards Ford, straightening his bow-tie and clearing his throat noisily, "Dipper gave me a stern talking to and I realized how rude I've been to you, Fordzy." The older Pines stared at the devil unyelding, so Bill continued on, "I guess I'm just jealous of how close you two are and how I won't ever be able to be as close to him as you are." Dipper was taken back by the normal, human person that Bill had become on command. His tan face was wiped clean of the blood that he had just consumed and was looking strangely innocent. But this did not fool Stanford. He had been deceived by this being before. He had believed that Bill was his only true friend, and now he was doing something far worse to Dipper._ _

__

__"You're right. You won't **ever** be as close to him as me." The scientist practically spat. The innocent facade fell and decaying patience was revealed with a hint of murderous intent. _ _

__

__"We should really be going to bed." Dipper butted in and Stanford turned away from the demon. "Right. We have a strenuous hike tomorrow. Best for you to rest up, Dipper." He unlatched one of his pack's pouches and pulled out a crossbow. When he looked to Dipper's rightly disturbed face he simply stated, "I will keep an eye on Bill." the demon crossed his arms and met the older man’s heated glare with one of his own._ _

__

__This trip was not going to end well._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There was some really kinky blood shit in this chapter. I had no idea that scene was going to get so sexual... Hopefully it was an extra side present along with the fact I actually updated (because we all know how rare that's been lately) 
> 
> Merry Christmas!


	41. Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello and Happy New Years (eve) hope you enjoy this chapter as we all bring in 2017!!

"Pinetree."

 

"Hey, I know you can hear me."

 

"Hell-oooo-"

 

"For the love of- Dipper, talk to him!" Ford demanded, scaling the mountain’s ridged path with puffs of exertion. Normally, something as harmless as a twenty degree climb would never make his bones lock up as they were on this trip. It was clearly the exhaustion of staring at the amused demon with a loaded crossbow all night. 

 

He didn't want Bill to have the satisfaction of seeing his body crippled by sleep deprivation when his enemy seemed all too hyper for having not slept. So Stanford pressed on, grumpily climbing the rocky path with his extremely anxious grand nephew in tow. Bill lurked over Dipper's shoulder like a vulture which stirred nerve-endings to pulsate with anger in Stanford's fingers and teeth.

 

Dipper was far from an idiot and was well aware of the dark aura his great uncle was sprouting so he quickly inclined his neck and casted an accusing glare at the grinning blonde trailing behind him. 

 

"What is it now?" One thing he wished for, more than anything at that time, was a muzzle to block out the useless and mostly hurtful gibber-jabber Bill loved to say- And a pot of coffee for his pissed off great uncle.

 

"I have a joke!" Oh sure, Dipper was definitely interested in another one of those. He didn’t wait to get approval from the shorter boy before he began with a mischievous grin splayed across his face like a dead fish on a bloody counter, "What do you call a plane being filled with radioactive materials?"

 

"Uh? Um... A bomber?" Dipper attempted lamely. Bill shook his head as the answer threatened to spill out of his growing grin, "Nope~!" With a long sigh, Dipper shrugged his backpack higher on his shoulders. "I donno, what?" 

 

There was a pause for dramatic effect and then the highly amused response of, " _Terminal_ cancer!" followed by the shrill laugh of insanity. Well, he sure seemed to be himself that day. It put Dipper a bit more at ease knowing that Bill's irritation and stupid anger had mostly stemmed from his almost addictive crave for blood sacrifices. And not whatever was behind this whole graph stealing thing was.

 

Despite himself, Dipper smiled. He really ought not to smile at the mention of terminal cancer, but it was more so the fact that it was the worst joke yet and it still managed to make Bill laugh.

 

"You really think outside the box." Dipper had attempted sounding sarcastic but even he could hear the warmth in his words. Ugh. Being in a relationship was turning him into a bucket of cheese balls. It hadn't even been three months since they had punched and shanked each other and now he was letting kinky shit go down in the woods and finding his bad jokes funny. Really a 360 turn, wasn’t it? "I'm glad you appreciate abstract thought, Pinetree. I'll show you more later, when we're alone."

 

Stanford came to a stop ahead of them and Dipper took up the spot beside him as they were met with a crossroads, quite literally. The trails forked on in four different paths. "Well, what do we do now?" At first, Dipper didn't realize that his great uncle was asking him, but logic told him that he was certainly not asking Bill. He stuttered to answer quickly.

 

"Um, well. W-we could always split up? That way we could cover more ground, you know?" His great uncle nodded slowly, eyes running over the curves of the rocks ahead with calculative thought. "Taking in account that this is your investigation, I'll let you make the choices. But let me get the abnormality scanner out and do a quick sweep of the place." 

 

Shit. The only thing that scanner was going to pick up was that Bill had gotten a hell of a lot stronger. The moment that Ford flipped the switch on the underside, the scanner had held out a single screeching note so loud that both Pines covered their ears. Just as Dipper had expected. Ford turned it off and gritted his teeth as he tried to hold back the anger from his words ineffectively, "I told you not to give him any more blood! Now, thanks to you, as long as Bill is within a one hundred mile radius of us the scanner is a piece of garbage!"

 

Dipper shrunk away from Ford's anger as he shoved the scanner roughly back into his bag. That done, the scientist took measured, deep breaths. "Great uncle Ford, I can explain-" "No, no. I don't want to know. It will only make my blood pressure rise more than it already has."

 

Fixing his glasses to set higher on his nose, he pointed to the path on a farthest right. "I'll be taking this path, if your path dead ends or you haven't found something after an hour, come back here." "What if we do find something?" Bill asked with a raised gloved hand. He didn't answer the demon and hurried on to the path he had chosen.

 

"If we find something, I’ll call great uncle Ford on our walkie-talkies." One of the demon’s eyebrow rose in question “We?” Dipper cast a wary glare towards Bill “Yes ‘we’. I’m not an idiot, Bill, I have two eyes. Deny it all you want, but there’s just too many signs pointing to you in this investigation.” despite tightening his muscles in preparation for what he knew was coming, Bill still managed to make Dipper flinch away when he grabbed his shoulder roughly, that dark look from the night before forming once more in the single gold eye. "Are you accusing me of something? Because last time I checked you don’t know shit about what I’m doing so don’t pretend you do.” “If you would’ve just told me what you’re up to instead of destroying my stuff and lying to me, maybe I wouldn’t be accuse you!” He could tell he was getting himself worked up, but Dipper couldn’t help it. Bill was doing something by those mountains and as much as he denied connection to the Hog Monsters, there was obvious connections Dipper was beginning to see that he simply couldn’t ignore. 

 

Bill narrowed his eye in anger… no, it was definitely a mixer between frustration and annoyance. The grip on Dipper’s shoulder was released only to have his wrist taken up with and equally- if not more so painful treatment. “Fine! If you want to know so badly, I’ll show you.” he began to tug the brunet behind him mercilessly, not waiting even a moment for Dipper to correct his footing to walk in pace with him, resulting in him almost being dragged for the first twelve or so steps. Bill was silent for what seemed to be a record of four minutes that day. Dipper would have commented on that fact, but in all honesty, he was uneasy about silent Bill. The path on the far left had turned out to be less of a path than a thin strip of dirt that threatened to crumble and send them down the side of the mountain any second and Dipper found himself silently pleading that Bill wasn’t being as reckless as he seemed to be with their lives. 

 

Like razors dripping with honey, a toothy grin broke out on the demon’s face that caused an uncomfortable shiver rush down Dipper’s back. This was scheming, traitorous, evil Bill. Of course he wasn’t as stupid as to think that this side of Bill had gone away just because of his humanity. No, humans were still capable of being monsters. Dipper wished that he would never have to meet this side of Bill ever again. They came to an abrupt stop, causing Dipper to smack into the demon’s side as a result of the momentum he had gained while being tugged along. He jumped back from the demon as if he were at risk for being attacked if he came too close. 

 

“Scared of me now, Pinetree?” Bill snicker in stale amusement that never rose above his jaw. Dipper ignored the question and looked to the shallow cave they had stopped in front of sceptical. Nevertheless, he followed the demon in. it was a small, damp dome of rock. Nothing much, really. The sun muddled in its shadowy depths but not completely extinguished, allowing Dipper to take notice to the unsettling scene on the far back wall. Otherworldly symbols chaotically painted on the wall with what looked to be (and was most likely) scribed in blood. The whole wall covered in precisely placed characters was disturbing enough without the ominous blank circular patch in the very center of it all.

 

“What…” Dipper started but has no idea how to continue. What the heck was he even looking at? It kind of looked like a summoning circle. Where the hell did Bill get all this blood? He took a step as he tried to calm down his raising brain and process the situation logically but jumped in surprise when the walkie-talkie cut in with a startling static screech. “Sorry!” wait. What the hell was he apologizing for? It’s not like the demon was even responsive. Bill was too focused on his inept staring at his handiwork laid out before the both of them on the wall. Dipper reached into his backpack on his back and after wiggling his hand around and grabbing nothing but his annoyingly paced water bottle several times in a row he sighed in frustration and yanked the bag of his back and found the walkie-talkie poking out of the lip. How the hell had he not felt that? Things were just going shitty today and he had a feeling they were going to get a lot worse. 

 

[“Dipper, do you read me?”]

 

Dipper held down the talk button and was about to answer that yes, he could hear him just fine, when Bill came up from behind and yanked it from Dipper’s hand and walked out of the cave. “Hey! What do you think you’re doing!?” but it was too late. Bill threw it over the edge of the cliff as he yelled “Go to hell!” whether he was speaking to the falling device or to Dipper’s great uncle on the other end Dippr has no idea.

 

“Bill, what the heck is going on!?” his mind instantly yelled at him to shut before the demon turned on him. He was, after all, acting much like an angry predator ready to strike and kill anything that presented itself. Thankfully or not thankfully, Bill didn’t turn to him right away, he stood on the edge for several long moments before pinching the bridge of his nose with a sigh. Then and only then did he turn back, adjusting his sweater vest and taking long steps so as to invade the confused boys personal space as quickly as possible. Instinctively, Dipper backed up but oh cliche of cliches he found himself backing into the blood covered wall. The demon grabbed hold of his jaw harshly and made him stop struggling by pressing his fingers into his jaw painfully which in turn made a painful looking bruise form on Bill’s cheek, but he ignored it.

 

“Do You know what this is?” when he didn’t get a response right away, he continued. His words bitter as some unreadable expression crossed his face “It’s my ticket out of this illusion. This dimension’s diseases really snuck up on me. you understand right, Pinetree? A couple hundred years in the void should fix all that. I weakened the separation between our dimensions by sacrificing the sacrificed blood you’ve been giving me so I can crawl back to where I came from. It’s a win win!”

 

That was not a ‘win win’. Maybe for Bill and the world but not for Dipper. Stanford had warned him about this, hadn’t he? Bill was going to destroy everything that made him Dipper Pines, who always put everyone before himself, who helped save the world. Where was that Dipper? Because the one that was beginning to crying and holding Bill’s forearms tightly in his grip was definitely not the same. He wanted Bill Cipher to stay no matter how much he clogged the arteries of this universe with his schemes for a take over, no matter how many lifeforms or galaxies he had destroyed in the past, no matter how many ways he found to hurt him. This Dipper was an extreme masochist with psychotic tendencies. 

 

“You asshole! Is that all you ever do? Lie? I mean, seriously? I asked ‘Hey Bill, do you have anything to do with this case?’ and over and over you said ‘I donno’ when you could have said what you just said and I would have fixed this! ” Dipper glared and started up his struggling once more. Bill blinked and it was as if someone had just taken the veil of darkness right out of his eyes, looking almost surprised before letting his eyelid fall halfway down his sigal eye in an unimpressed way. “I don’t want you to ‘fix this’ whatever you think you mean by that. I’m going to go find a new gig somewhere far away from here.”

 

Now Dipper was the one frustrated. “By fix this I mean stop Stanford from finding out this is your fault and ripping your fucking head off. Oh my god, he’s probably already on his way here.” He wiped his tears of frustration away quickly. Bill crouched down and pulled an ice pick out of his boot as if it was the most natural thing in the world and began to pull his gloves off but his voice was encroaching upon harsh and cold. “You should stop it already. All this ‘care’ you're showing… It’s disgusting. Don’t you get it Pinetree? I’m trying to get away from you.” 

 

The words of a counter sneer of how much Dipper hated the cocky ass in front of him died on his lips when the latter suddenly plunged the sharpened point of the ice pick through the eye tattoo in the center of his hand. But the horror show wasn’t over yet, with a groan, Bill pulled in back out only to switch hands, paying no mind to the shaking of the hand that what seemed to have a river of blood poured out of and stabbed into the center of the other hand. Dipper might have screamed, he wasn’t completely sure about that aspect. He just knows that he had ripped the metal object out of the insane man’s grip after he had removed it from the bloody palm. 

 

“What the fuck!?” he directed at the demon who had then pushed him out of way to the wall so as to place his hands on the bare area of the wall but the exclamation was more about the whole situation. The symbols on Bill’s hands and the symbols scrawled out on the wall in blood began to burn a bright red and a swirl of a portal formed. Dipper could feel the ground of the cave rumbling under his feet. Guess it was safe to say the earthquakes were a side effect of the other dimensional being trying to get in- no. out. Out of this three dimensional plane of existence. This was happening right now, wasn’t it? Bill was leaving because he was a stupid idiot who couldn’t deal with the idea of being settled in a place he hadn’t conquered or enslaved. That is, if he didn’t die of blood loss first. He should slap Bill. Tell him all the things he’s literally just thought of but Dipper couldn't get himself to move from where he stood or say a word. Maybe it was fear. Maybe it was that he was over thinking again and it was fairly simple for him to move he just was thinking over the process too in depths. Hopefully Dipper will never overthink breathing.

 

And that is when Ford grabbed ahold of Bill and threw him away from the wall as hard as he could manage. The wall in turn slapped back into itself with an oddly slick sound for the sound of stone on stone. Bill screamed in anger and struggled to his feet. Ford stood between the bloody demon and the tear that was attempting to mend and cover the oddly colored portal. The scientist cast a quick glance at his nephew and caught the utterly lost and hopeless expression on his tear stained face. The thing that made him absolutely lose it though, was the dark bruises forming on the fair skin of Dipper’s jaw. Bill had done that to him and there was no way Ford was going to hold back now.

 

“That’s it!” He had been playing nice for Dipper’’s sake but this had gone on long enough. The demon snarled much more like a monster than a man and picked up the ice pick Dipper had dropped at some point or another and Stanford responded by rolling his coat sleeves up. Bill swiped at the older man, aiming for his kidneys but his attacks were not as sharp as they could be and Ford took advantage of the teen’s disorientation and kneed him in the stomach. A groan of pain emerged from Bill’s lips before he contorted them weakly into that sinister grin of his. He didn’t care if it was not a fair fight. Bill had this coming the moment he decided not to stay dead.

 

It was easy to yank the ice pick from the blood slick hand and he punched Bill in the face, nearly sending him falling back on his ass but he wasn’t done just yet. He grabbed ahold of Bills sweater vest and white button down and pulled him back up to stand, glaring. Stanford was probably enjoying this a little too much, but he didn’t care. He was about to headbut the nearly unconsious teen when Dipper suddenly came out of whatever form of a coping mechanism that sort of lost look he had been sporting not a moment before was and called out worriedly “Uncle Ford, Stop! Bill’s hurt, he need medical attention!”

 

Why? Why did Dipper still care about such a monster that only thought about himself. He was beginning to wonder if maybe Dipper should get his mind examined when Bill punched him square in the nose as hard as he could. A scream of pain, but not from Ford but from Bill as his right arm broke the instant the punch had been landed. Dipper covered his mouth. The bone hadn’t breached the surface but it was bad. Forearms weren’t suppose to be shaped like U’s. Bill hit the floor hard. Out cold as Ford held his bloody nose with a whence drawn on his face.

 

Dipper sighed and sat down where he was. He closed his eyes tight and ran his hands through his banged incessantly. This was fine. All of this was fine. Dipper would fix this. And he certainly wasn’t going to break down again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And to think... you all will have to wait until next year to read the nex chapter. 
> 
> No, I regret nothing.' is the title of this chapter. I was listening to this song while I was writing Ford and Bill's fight scene and the lyrics seemed to fit how Bill was telling himself mentally what he felt about the whole thing at the time more or less. you should give it a listen (and a read if you don't know French)


	42. The Interrogation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [insert excuse for not updating here] sorry bout the wait! Hope you enjoy!... well... maybe enjoy isn't quite the right word for this chapter... but I leave it up to you the reader to decide!

Dark, dim, and dreary. He really wished he hadn't drank before he did this. But then again, he might have snapped Bill's neck if his anger and hate hadn't been slightly numbed by the tang of alcohol in his system. 

The demon trapped in a human body was silently watching the scientist with a sober looking contempt etched into his pale, bruised face. Stanford's eyes ran over the bandaged hands which were held to the wooden chair's arms by multiple restraints.

An old and forgotten coffee mug was taken up from his desk. This one, in particular, was Mabel's birthday present to him. It was a hand painted rainbow mug that exclaimed in rhinestones: 'Science is MAGIC!' He didn't mind the disgustingly aged coffee- or the glitter that had found it's way from inside the paint to inside his drink. After everything he had been dealing with, he would have drank acid rain if the burn could keep him awake and ignore the incessant throb resonating from the broken cartilage in his nose.

He sat the cup back down and turned in his desk chair to face Bill.

"Times up, Bill. I gave you more than enough time to straighten out your story." He leaned in threateningly and added in a low tone, "Now tell me your master plan or I'll resort to medieval tactics to acquire the information."

"Oh wow. 'Can't wait to see whatcha have in store!" The blonde sang sarcastically. But it lingered on his cracked lips only momentarily before Stanford smeared it off his face with his knuckles which sliced the sharp cheekbone underneath.

A curse, followed by a dramatized sigh escaped the custom fitted meat suit and he looked back up to the stony face of the scientist in disappointment. "You're gonna have to try harder than that, Sixer!" 

There was a burning urge in Ford's chest to just take his ray gun from it's place, safely tucked in the hem of his pants, and blow the brains out of the monstrous teen. He caught himself quickly by means of another generous slurp of week(s) old coffee and resumed his composure. He had let things get just a tiny bit out of hand up in the mountains and Dipper hadn’t looked him in the eye since.

"You haven't even asked about him." Stanford started again but this time concentrating solely on judging Bill's true reaction as he became hard and cold like a brick wall. Stanford had found a gap and he planned to strike with validity 

"Here's my theory- and correct me if I'm wrong- but you planned to open another rift, am I right? Invite all your friends over... But you didn't count on human emotion affecting your judgment. So you grew complacent, you forgot what you were suppose to be doing, and your plan fell apart because you let him find out." 

Bill shrugged as much as his restraints would allow him. Tension bit at the air, so many things screamed in uncontrollable anger between them. With a board sigh, the demon said flatly, "Face it, Sixer. I'd rather burn in a ditch with my guts in a pile beside my head than talk to you. Get me Mason." 

The moment the heated words spilled from the downward facing crescent of Bill's lips, Stanford's eyebrows drew up, adding two more bowing wrinkles to his square forehead. He hadn't expected... Well, for Bill to retain sentiment for the one he had screamed he hated on the way back from their trip until his voice grew hoarse.

He stood and left the stone faced demon alone without another word. They both needed time to cool down and recollect their thoughts.

Dipper took a deep breath, the elevator rattling around him only seemed to unnerve his frazzled self-security more than the daunting task his great uncle asked him to accomplish. Well, indirectly asked him. A strained air had formed between them as their views on the investigation clashed like night and day so he had asked Soos to ask him,who was a little confused about what Stanford meant by “Not being able to crack him even after offering him a blood bag.” but he assumed that it was a Vampire in like, the Vampire Mob that had some information the Pines needed.

The trip back from the mountain, dragging Bill by chains, had given him time to reflect on what had happened. He realized that no matter what Bill felt for him- because he was sure that at least some of the 'feelings' the demon had for him were real- his desire, his craving was to have his old life of destruction and chaos back. And he wouldn't let anything get in the way of that, not even himself.

So, Dipper had picked up his shredded remains and carried on with looming thunder clouds overhead.

The elevator came to a stop at the lowest level and the laboratory/ living pace revealed itself. How depressing, to see Bill's bruised and bloodied face placid and void, or the restraints digging into his bloody, bandaged hands.

A single, humorless puff of a laugh fell from Bill's lips as his gold eye lazily roamed over Dipper before turning away with his nose up in disgust. "What's with that look, huh? Finally starting to see my true form again?"

He did not say anything to Bill. Taking up Ford's computer chair he simply sighed tiredly and watched the demon apathetically. In all honesty, Dipper was just tired; tired of Bill, tired of Stanford, tired of everything. But his mind had a way of using energy he didn't even have to keep him moving, to keep him dealing with all of this absolute _shit_. He had to fix this somehow, but he wasn’t sure how to at this point.

"I'm a demon, kid. You had to have expected this to happen. Unless you really are as brainless as you look right now."

Dipper looked down at his hands and felt his heart fall into the soles of his feet. He did not say anything in response and a moment of silence elapsed before Bill filled it with an irritated growl, "Look, I'm gonna hand it to you straight because I have things to do and this is getting really fucking annoying. I was the one behind the rip as you saw, I let the fat asses in unintentionally but counted it as a bonus as I tried to wiggle my way back into the void I came from. Tada! Happy? Really? Okay, it's good."

When silence fell again, Bill felt compelled to fill it even sooner, as if the quietness was driving him mad. "C'mon, say something!"

Dipper lifted his gaze to the irritated gold eye and the demon seemed to coil into himself like a cobra about to strike. And when he did, it was soaked with venom. "I never loved you! It was joke. Can't you get that through your minuscule morsel of a brain?"

"I don't get you." Dipper finally started, his eyes narrowing on the heated anger that seared in the gold glare directed back at him. "Why are you trying to get me say I hate you back? Would hearing me say it out loud make it easier to hate me or something?"  
"I don't feel anything for you! And, as much as you don't want to admit it, Pinetree, if I wasn't in this disgustingly soft meat suit you wouldn't be so keen to throw yourself at me!" his cold response ended in an almost growl of anger. Dipper switched to a different, less painful tactic.

He brought the swivel chair closer to Bill and gently touched one of the bandaged hands. the demon tried to jerk away but the restraints kept him in place. Dipper bit his lip, not in fear of what Bill might do, it of what Bill might not do that scared him. It came without a doubt that things could never be the same... he had used Dipper, hurt him physically and mentally... and yet- and yet-!

He liked playing in the dark.

"Bill..." his hand reached over to the chest, expensive button down and silky black bow tie shredded and dirty but he wasn’t interested in that. Bill's heart was racing under his hand. 

Suddenly, he jerked aggressively, struggling with howls and screams no true human could emit and Dipper stood from his chair in order to try and keep the blonde from hurting himself more than he already had. Bill hissed angrily, "Don't touch me!"

Dipper ignored the demand and continued to try and hold his back against the wooden chair. "Why are you so fucking selfish!? I thought we both liked how things were going. Why, why did you have to go and do this!"

An insane laugh spilled from the other's mouth and they both stopped struggling for control. Dipper stood over the restrained teen holding both his shoulders against the back of the chair and panting from the effort. He couldn't see Bill's downcast face but he felt the rattling of his bones as something deep inside him threatened to break out.

And finally, it did.

"Pain is suppose to be hilarious! But you know what? This pain I feel because of your existence is not the enjoyable kind. If I'm with you, it hurts, if I'm away from you it hurts even more! What in XOLOTL's name did you humans think you were doing when you decided to feel this way? To chain yourself to each other!? Make yourselves so weak for another?!- Urg! What the fuck is this now!?"

Bill looked up with true mortification on his face as tears rolled down his pale cheek before he laughed brokenly, "I hate this meat suit so much! I hate human emotions, human desires- I just want to end this torture! Please, if you love me or ever loved me, kill me now."

Dipper stared down at him, fear and pain trailing down his features in messy globs. So this was the problem... The reason he wanted to make Dipper hate him. The disease that he had spoken of in the cave. Not physical pain, but something most humans don't ever understand. That uncontrollably aching pain of love. "What will happen to you if you..." It came out as nothing above a dry whisper and Dipper quickly cleared his throat before trying to bring the conversation back to what they were suppose to be talking about. He wouldn’t give into his morbid curiosity "What about the Hog Monsters, what do they have to do with your plan of becoming an unfeeling spirit again?"

This seemed to enrage Bill, "They're just maggots that crawled through the tear I was trying to climb out of! Stop being a bitch and listen to me!" "I'm not going to kill you! No matter what you say! So just give it up!" Dipper spat back. Then, taking in deep breaths to calm his human emotion, Bill met Dipper's eyes with a sharp and grimly serious look.

"How about we make a deal?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please feel free to rant your feelings in a comment below if that's what you're into or just leave your thoughts on the story thus far, I'd love to hear your thoughts (but not in a telepathic sort of way, I'd like not to violate the sanctuary of your chrome-dome.) I hope you come again when I post 43~! Hopefully sooner than this time around.


	43. Eating Out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Really late at night and my brain cannot make up stuff to talk about.. enjoy!

Mabel stared out the diner window, disappointedly observing the harsh rain outside. Her face laid pouting on the wood table surface like a puppy longing for it's owner to return home. She was waiting for the sun, but Dipper doubted it would rear it's fickle little head at all that day.

"Dude, are you two okay? Mabel, that's the seventh time you've sighed and Dipper, you've been poking at your burger since you got it. What gives?" Wendy asked from the other side of the booth. Dipper looked up for a moment before looking back down and poking at the burger again, "The rain is just kind of a mood killer, you know?" 

"And I'm worried about our party! It's in eight days! What kinda sweet-sixteen party will it be if we have to use life preservers as party favors?" The twins sighed at the same time and the lumberjack leaned over the table with a hopeful smile, "C'mon, guys, your birthday is going to be awesome, no matter what, because you'll be sixteen! Awe man, that was my best year; I got a car, started traveling with my dad's lumber business... Other fun stuff- You'll love it, seriously."

Mabel seemed to brighten as she raised her head from the sticky table with a smile. "You're right, Wendy! I shouldn't stress myself out. I'm sure that if I let it all handle itself everything will be fine." "That's not exactly what I said-" Dipper shook his head at Wendy and whispered loudly, "Let her have this."

Switching gears, Wendy asked through a mouthful of fries, "I've been meaning to ask, what’s the story behind those bruises on your face, Dipper?" He reached up and touched the bruising and slightly swollen flesh across his jaw but he yanked his hand back when his gentle touch stung. "I fell down a hill." he said blandly and with a forced smile. Mabel stopped in the middle of constructing a waffle house with her food and looked his face over with relief, "Thank goodness! I thought it was James. I was going to tear his other eye out of his head- Now that I'm thinking about it, didn't he have two eyes at the beginning of the summer?"

"Is James blonde and really thin? With an eyepatch?" "That's him~!" "He keeps glaring at me whenever I see him around town. What's his deal?" "He can be a bit of jerk some of the time- Well, most of the time- But! He's going out with Dipper so he can't be too insane or murderous."

Dipper suddenly didn't feel like eating the meat slab of a burger he had ordered and pushed it toward Mabel who would no doubt eat it for him. "Mabel! Why do you keep telling everyone?" He didn't want to look at Wendy's face. It was awkward! He'd bet if he had started dating a girl it wouldn't have been as awkward as it was because, gosh dang it! He was still unsure of his sexuality. He supposed it had everything and nothing to do with Bill Cipher.

Wendy's phone started buzzing and she turned it off as she stood. "Well, I'm glad you found someone, Dipper. Even if he's insane or... Murderous?" Mabel nodded at her questioning look and, with a shrug, Wendy picked up her discarded ax from the booth seat and slapped some money down on the table. "Sorry I've got to ditch you two like this, but my break's over soon and I got to get back before my dad throws a temper tantrum. Peace out." Mabel waved over the back of the booth as Wendy walked away. Unfortunately, Dipper got whacked over the head with one of her spastic waves. "Ow! Mabel, what the heck?" She stopped waving and looked back at her brother, "Sorry, bro bro!" 

He sighed, resting his forehead in his palm, "It's fine, just- Stop telling everyone about Bill and I, okay?" His sister slid back down into a normal sitting position with the leather mimicking the sounds of Stan after dinner. She paused briefly before sliding even more until she disappeared under the table. Reappearing several seconds later on the side of the booth Wendy had been sitting at. Her face was drawn down into concern which he promptly avoided looking at. 

"You didn't sleep last night, did you?" Dipper's bags must've given him away. He had been hoping that they would be mistaken for bruising. But then there was Mabel's oddly in tune 'brother in distressed' meter that could've alerted her. He really wished he knew how to block it out at times like these.

"I've just got a lot on my mind." That was certainly no lie. Bill's proposed deal was unfair in Dipper's opinion. He hated it but at the same time knew that horrible things would happen if he didn't make it. Bill was back at the Mystery Shack, deep underground, waiting for Dipper to make up his mind. Every fiber of Dipper's being clenched in fear of the uncertain aftermath.

"So it wasn't a nightmare?" Mabel asked quietly and Dipper shook his head, taking up staring out at the brutal rain instead of his twin. "Dipper, ever since you started dating Bill you've become so secretive. Don't you trust me?" He trusted her. He trusted her more than anyone and Dipper cared about Mabel more than anyone else.

And that's why he had to lie to her.

"Look, Bill and I got into a little fight," A major understatement.

"So I'm taking a break from him."  
A lie.

"That fight has nothing to do with my face or Stanford’s face being jacked up or anything."  
A bad lie.

Wow, he hadn't noticed up until that point that hanging out with Bill had made him such a liar. Even with his advancing skills, Mabel narrowed her eyes on him. Dipper couldn't help but flinch under her stare but he forced himself to hold eye contact. Finally, Mabel broke into a smile, and stole his untouched burger. "Was that so hard?"

She had no idea.

"No, I guess not." Dipper mumbled, watching in slight disgust as his sister talked with her mouth full, "And don't you feel a million times lighter now that you've talked about it?"

Not at all.

"Yeah." She shoved the last of the sandwich into her mouth. Chewing for a long moment before swallowing hard. "Good! Because there's no frowning Marty when you're planning a party~!"

"Who's Marty?" "Shush! It rhymes, okay?" Mabel stood from the booth, a grin growing on her face as she gathered up her backpack and slipped on her hot pink raincoat. Realization dawned on Dipper and his eyebrows drew together, "Wait, you want to go get all the stuff for our party _now_? While it's pouring down rain."

"I'm not going to let the weather best me! Plus, the money dad gave me for decorations has been burning a hole in my wallet all summer. If we don't spend it today, I'll probably cave and buy fifteen pounds of Smile Dip from a black market website." 

The fidgeting of Mabel's hands and the twitching of her left eyelid showed Dipper the severity of the situation and he quickly slipped his hoodie on and looped his book bag over his neck. He imagined that any minute now he would see her start to foam at the mouth like she often pretended to do when she was brushing her teeth. 

And so, the twins hurried out into the rainy day in search of what they would need for their approaching sweet sixteen party.


	44. A Night Visitor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story (and myself by extension) are not dead... just... life is life is life, I guess.
> 
> More story!! Enjoy~

The sun didn't show itself the rest of the day and the rain continued to pelt Gravity Falls throughout the night. Party supplies were piled high in the attic closet. 

Long after the lights in the Mystery Shack had been switched out, eyes were open forcefully with intentions of remaining conscious for one reason or another.

There was nothing he hadn't seen from the attic bedroom window so stunning- glimmering in the moisture of the night air outside that would present itself as eye catching enough to neglect his return to bed. No, staring out at the stormy night on the other side of the window panes was simply an activity to numb his brain from thoughts in hopes that sleep would sneak up on him.

A nightmare had started the beginning of his trance-like state. There was no real Bill to flick it away and save him from his subconscious. Dipper had watched hands rip his sister apart savagely while a mockup version of Bill's demon form had tore his fingernails off before plunging his open wounds into boiling water. No one had saved him from his disturbingly morbid nightmare and he had wanted to throw up so badly when he came out of it.

For the first time since he had sat up in bed, panting harshly with fear, Dipper looked away from the late night globs of rain trickling down the window seal to the dark side of the room. He took a long inhale and choked on the too-quick release of the air. There was flem in his throat, jostling around uncomfortably whenever he breathed. Maybe spending the day getting party supplies while soaked with rain wasn't such a good idea. The best thing to hope for was that it didn't turn into a full blown cold.

Dipper stood up groggily and made his way to the bedroom door. The floor boards seemed to conspire against him, screaming their hearts out as his sock covered feet shuffled over them. Well shit. He glanced over at Mabel's bed and a groan escaped her accompanied by the lump in her unicorn blankets rolling over. His heart thudded against his ribs with an almost bruising quality while he waited, frozen in his mid step by the door. After a minute he presumed she wasn't going to be waking up and asking him what he was doing up at four in the morning so he finished his trek to the door a quietly snuck out of the room.

Downstairs was inky black. No amount of adjusting his eyes would allow him to see. Lucky for him, he had walked this path so many times that his mind had made up some kind of inner GPS to follow. It wasn't without it's flaws, however. There had been no warning signs given that Soos had left his twister board on the floor in the living room. Dipper hissed and yanked his foot away, the plastic arrow was a lot sharper than it looked (earlier in the night when he could see it, that is) and a hole was made in the bottom of his sock, dull pain similar to a needle puncture bothering his sole but unless the board game piece had been laced with poison, Dipper would survive.

Beeping filled the silent gift shop louder than anything he had ever heard making him wonder what he was even doing there. Ford had told him to stay away from Bill since the interrogation. It had been blatantly obvious when he had met Ford right where he stood now with his head lowered to cover his tear stained face that he hadn't gotten anything helpful from the demon. Stanford had grabbed hold of his shaking shoulders and told him all that stupid shit adults say when they see a kid upset. 

'It’s okay, you did what you could.'

'You won't have to do that again, okay?'

'Now let me see a smile, huh?'

Dipper hadn't given him a smile.

The vending machine door popped opened with the quiet hiss of compressed air escaping. For a long moment he could only stare at the light atop the hidden staircase as it came in and out of a blurry haze. 

What was he doing here? 

Ford has told him to stay away.

"Well fuck him." Dipper mumbled under his breath and descended the stairs at an agonizingly slow pace. He couldn't help it. Was it from lake of sleep on the onset of a fever? Whatever it was Dipper was feeling cripplingly weak in the arm and legs.

Bill wasn't sleeping. When the elevator opened up to his great uncle's study -having been moved there. Stanford not wanting Bill down on the bottom floor with Stanley and himself and all- Bill stared at him blankly for a long time before looking away irritably.

"Go back to bed, Pinetree. You look hideous when you deprive your flesh of what it wants." He had never felt so relieved to hear someone call him hideous. It let his muscles release from their constricted state. Bill was fine- well, obviously not sleeping enough but at least it seemed Stanford hadn't taken more of his rage out on Bill's face.

Dipper steps forward sluggishly, switching on the desk lamp. The beams shine right in Bill's eye and he cringes, yanking his head away angrily "Fuck! Turn it off!" Dipper quickly turned it back off. The new darkness was hard to adjust to and for a long moment, they stayed quiet.

"Sorry." He mumbled after a while but the sound the darkness responded with was a growl. Evidence to the monster hiding within it. "I don't want your 'sorry's. I want an answer, Pinetree." A long pause, and then a sigh "You aren't going to give me an answer because you're a selfish little boy that thinks that as long as I'm tied up I can't hurt you. But that's another thing, isn't it? You're _very_ sensitive to words. Wanna see how fast I can make you start sucking your thumb and rock back and forth in the corner without touching you?"

"How's your arm?" Dipper whispered without much thought. It wasn't as if Stanford would be able to hear him down below, there was no need to whisper, and yet... His voice gave out on him. His eyes had adjusted to the soft red lights that activated automatically when the studies lights went out, and found that Bill was grinning at his oddly angled arm.

"Stanford says that if I don't tell him all my secrets he's going to let it heal like this and I probably won't be able to feel my fingers but it's a small price to pay. What is a being equal to a god in this plane of existence if he doesn't have secrets? A loser, I'll tell you that." He shrugged and added "It's not like I'm staying in this body long, isn't that right, Pinetree?"

"I haven't made up my-" "Then go away! What're you doing here if you don't have any answer?!" Bill cut him off icily, grinding his bloody fingers agitatedly at his chairs arm which previous scratching indicated the demon having assumed it as a pastime of his imprisonment.

He grabbed up the not broken but bloody hand to stop the blonde from hurting himself and spoke up clearly, "I wanted to make sure you were okay." "Do I look okay?" Bill's voice sounded a bit softer causing Dipper's heart to practically drop out of his chest with the weight of pain.

In the barely existent red light -the only light that proved the both of them existed in the same place at the same time- they looked at each other openly and the conversation continuing without words. Dipper hadn't even notice how much he was leaning in until he pulled away and shielded his mouth into his inner elbow as a coughing fit wracked his body.

"Sounds like some human disease you got there." Was that a hint of amusement he heard? The first of its kind in ages it seemed. Dipper cleared his throat with some trouble "No, it's just a cold I think. I'll be fine." Sure he would, right after he had another fit of his body wanting to hack up his spleen.

"Go to bed, that is an order. I don't want to be infected with your 'cold'." He didn't seem to really care about that, though. Dipper had a feeling the only thing his presence was doing was hurting the demon further. The ache of want but forced retraction from one another was crippling both of them.  
Reluctantly, Dipper nodded and started for the elevator door. 

He didn't say anything and dared not to look back but his visibly convulsed with fear and uncertainty when Bill called out to him "It's either deal or no deal, kid... You can't have both."

He returned to the attic bedroom and climbed under the sheets. His head gone to some distant corner of itself that no one would find him, not even if they looked.

The rain continued to fall outside

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was short... but I promise I'm not stalling. I have the rest of the story planned out from here on out. It's just the whole sitting down and writing it out is the part that's getting stuck.
> 
> I shall post again... eventually. That is all I can guarantee for now.


	45. Sweet Sixteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Dipper learns that dreams can come true with the power of friendship. 
> 
> Jk I just wanted to try writing a chapter summary without spoilers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey hey! This chapters pretty long so I hope that makes up for the long breaks I've been taking lately~ anyway, hope you enjoy~

“Oh. My. Gosh. Can you believe this, Dipper!? We’re sixteen now!” Mabel screamed around Dinosaur shaped pancakes Soos had made them for their birthday breakfast and Dipper couldn't hold back his own giddiness at the prospect of finally reaching sixteen. He wasn't exactly sure why it was such a big deal or what extra benefits that age gave you the right to but he was excited nonetheless.

“You two better pile that food in faster if you expect to set up that party of yours before people start showing up looking for free pizza.” Stan grumbled as he wandered into the kitchen to the fridge where he dug around a bit before pulling a can of pit soda from the back and cracked it open. How Stan could drink soda from dawn til dusk Dipper wasn't sure. Soos handed Stan a plate with dinosaur shaped pancakes and strips of bacon that may have been a little too cooked and received a grunt in thanks that instantly turned to growl when his twin hurried into the kitchen and stole a piece of bacon from Stan’s plate.

“Happy birthday Mabel and Dipper-have either of you seen seen my bolt cutters anywhere around here?” Dipper’s eyes shifted to meet his great uncle but quickly thought better of it and jerked his gaze back down to the plate before him. “Nope. um- I haven't seen them.” He managed to mumble out, trying to seem too engrossed with his pancakes to really care what Ford was asking. Mabel shook her head, causing a long sigh to escape the scientist’s lips in exasperation. 

“It doesn't really matter right now but if you happen to see them around tell me.” Stanford swiped the last strip of bacon from Stan’s plate, who swatted his hand at him on retaliation but finding it too late that Ford had already shoved the whole thing in his mouth Stan settled on facing his body away from his thieving twin.

Mabel piled the last of her breakfast into her mouth and poured syrup in on top before getting up from her chair and giving Dipper two thumbs up. He sighed and shook his head. Dipper followed after his overly excitable twin towards the back of the Shack where they would be throwing their party later that day, thanking Soos for the breakfast on their way out.

Ford took up one of the kitchen chairs his nephew and niece had abandoned. His eyes following them down the hall as far as he could then turned to his plate deep in in thought. “They are definitely up to something…” Stan looked over to his brother from where he stood against the counter and greeted Melody as she walked past him still half asleep.

“Who? Mabel and Dipper? Of course they're up to something, I would disown them if they weren't-” “Not Mabel and Dipper. Bill and Dipper.” Soos looked up from the stove he was cooking at, concern and confusion on his face but he didn't ask what the dimensional traveler meant. 

Ford took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Listen. Whatever happens, We all need to keep a close eye on Dipper today.”

Mabel threw another roll of streamers onto the Mystery Shack's roof like she was teepeeing the building and less like actually decorating it. Dipper sat in the itchy and dew wet grass blowing up balloons. He had little more than a dozen tied off and he was sure his lungs were going to give out on if he didn't pass out first. He took a short break to catch his breath and looked up to cloudy but brightly shining blue of the sky.

Without him even really noticing, his eyes slipped shut and Dipper found himself actually enjoying the cold breeze that drifted by ever so often. He really wished Bill wasn't such a complete and utter ass because he actually wouldn't mind listening to one of his stupid one sided conversations right about then.

“Hey, Dipper! Mrs.Waters is here to see you!” Dipper’s eyes didn't just open, they bulged out of his head. He had completely forgotten about the woman who had suffered through living with Bill Cipher for sixteen years and still seemed (for the most part) sane.

Quickly, almost falling over himself, Dipper stood and jogged over to where Mrs.Waters stood beside Mabel. Oh no, he could see just by looking at her fair skin turned dark around her red, puffy eyes that she was not doing well.

Her smile was weak but she forced its presence as she spoke, “I’m really sorry to interrupt you two when you're getting ready for your party, but I came to tell you that James won't be coming to your birthday party.” It struck Dipper as a little odd, he didn't remember ever inviting Bill or sending an invitation to his house.

Dipper turned to his sister with narrowed eyes and she shrugged. “You were too embarrassed, so I sent one for you.” “Gee, thanks.” He rolled his eyes. Suddenly, Mrs.Waters’s hand grabbed hold of his forearm maybe too roughly, causing Dipper to flinch a bit.

Desperation shown clearly in her weepy eyes and he found himself not entirely sure what he was suppose to do. 

“Please, Dipper. You were his only friend. You must know what happened to him! He disappeared over a week ago! The police are looking for him but there's nothing to help them find him.” She let out a puff of a laugh that actually hurt Dipper’s chest to watch how broken this woman had become after losing her monstrous son. “It’s as if… he vanished into thin air.”

There was no possible way of telling her ‘Oh, I know where he is! My great uncle has him tied to a chair in his secret lab behind the vending machine so he can torture the secrets of the universe out of him.’ That was out of the question, but he felt so bad lying to her. Biting at the corner of his lip he started very slowly and mindful of what he was saying.

“B- eh, James, was uh, -because you were working late, I guess, sometime the week before last and he invited me to spend the night. W-when I left the next morning is the last time I saw him.” 

Mrs.Waters finally released her death grip on his arm and dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief. “I'm sorry.” Dipper felt compelled to tell her and she smiled at him fondly with just the tiniest wrinkle of suspicion in her eyes “No need to apologize. Please, take this and give me a call or stop by the house if you think of something else.” 

She handed them a missing persons flyer and Dipper felt his heart sag painfully low. The picture was of Bill in his hunter Halloween costume before he lost one of his eyes and he looked royally pissed at the fact that his picture was being taken when he was obviously trying to walk out the front door.

Dipper nodded to Bill’s false mother resolutely and watched silently as she waved and disappeared around the edge of the Shack.

“Where did Bill go, Dipper?” Mabel asked worriedly, grabbing a hold of Dipper’s shoulder in what he assumed was support. “I don't know-” “Don't give me that stupid lie, again.” 

“Ford.” He finally said grimly and walked past her. Nothing more really needed to be said on the matter. 

The sun was about to set and it seemed as though Mabel had invited the whole town again this year. There was karaoke as there always was, lots and lots of dancing and maybe not enough snacks to go around. The best present had been Pacifica paying for more pizza when they ran out in which she received a bone crushing Mabel hug for well over two minutes.

Wendy, and Soos were doing the robot and Melody talking to some of her friends at a nearby table animatedly. Stanley and Stanford stood stiffly as Candy and Grinda attempted to pull them onto the dance floor with Mabel, ignoring their refusals.

Dipper… well, he was hiding.

Sitting at the farthest, secluded table fiddling with the same full cup of soda he had harbored since the start of the party. 

It was time. He knew it was, but he still sat there, staring down into the carbonated bubbles as if they would tell him whether or not he was making the right choice.

Okay, now he was just annoyed. He didn't even want to sit with himself anymore. Discreetly, he looked around him and found that no one was watching him and stood. 

It would be too obvious if he went inside the back door. The most predominant problem posing itself being Stanford’s close proximity to the porch as he danced stiffly. Stanley was laughing at his twin’s stuffy dance only proving to embarrass the usually confident other worldly traveler.

“Where are you going, birthday boy?” 

Shit.

Dipper turned around stiffly with a smile way too wide a toothy to one of his. “Wendy. Hi.” He cleared his throat and loosen up his lips when he realized the single red eyebrow shooting up in speculation. “How are you, um, enjoying the party?”

She shrugged, “it’s pretty good. I just wish you weren't avoiding me like the Black Plague or something. What's up with you?” “N-no it's not you-” “I’m just messing with you, man. I can understand that expression. Looks like you got a lot on your mind right now.”

A real smile grew on his face in appreciation for not having to explain himself. “Thanks, Wendy. Can you make sure Ford doesn't notice I'm gone?” She gave him a thumbs up “Just make sure you're back for cake.” 

After circling around to the front of the Mystery Shack Dipper made his way quickly up the stairs to his and Mabel’s shared room and dove for under his bed where Stanford’s bolt cutters were wrapped in his beach towel. He would have to be quick about this. Even with Wendy’s help Ford had been keeping a watchful eye on him all day. He must have known something was about to happen and no doubt he would notice his absence from the party.

He made his way downstairs and back through the living room to the gift shop and typed the password into the vending machine.

It didn't open the passage. He tried again but nothing happened. “Ford changed the password.” He mumbled to himself angrily and looked around for something to pry it open with before looking down to the bolt cutters in his hand. It would have to do.

Somewhere outside he could hear McGucket hootin’ n hollerin’ about something but he didn't have time to care about that. He edged the tool between the wall and the vending machine and pushed with all of his bodyweight and the doorway popped open with a hiss.

There had never been a time in his life he had himself running down a set of stair at such a dangerously fast pace.

The music was thumping loudly and Stan had to switch his hearing aid off because of the loud screeching the music was sending through it. He looked over to his brother and he took notice to his searching eyes.

“Where did that boy go?” He heard him grumbled and Stan cast his own glance around the yard and shrugged when he couldn't find Dipper “What a little punk, this is his party and he ditched it! He must be at that age when he doesn't appreciate the beauty in a birthday party.” Ford rolled his eyes “by ‘beauty’ you mean the presents.” Stan shrugged and took a few gulps of his can “Hey, if people you barely know are going to buy you stuff which you can then exchange for money why wouldn't you take advantage of that?” 

Ford turned his head to face Stan and was about to say something in response when he heard McGucket’s voice ring out like a violin bow against sandpaper, “A earthquake’s a comin’!”

The vault door was thrown open and Dipper look to where Bill sat erect and a pleased grin splayed out on his lips.

“Finally made up your mind, Pinetree?”

Dipper nodded and went to work cutting the chains off of his demon that was looking worse for wares. Bill involuntarily moaned in pain when his broken arm was freed. He tried in vain to stretch it out and when he wiggled his fingers they reacted limitedly and delayed. 

He frowned at the arm but instantly his attention was brought around to the other’s forced emotionless words,

“I accept your deal.”

“Good! I would say to shake on it but my deal-making hand is incapacitated at the moment.”

Dipper looked away from his eyes and found the floor to be extremely interesting as Bill stood from the chair and stretched his stiff joints.

“We could always shake on it with your left hand instead.” 

The demon scuffed dramatically “It would pay for you to be a little more imaginative, Pinetree.” When no response was forthcoming, Bill sighed and grabbed up Dipper’s left hand in a firm handshake. A weak blue flame sputtered to life where their hands were joined.

“First order of business, before anything else I’m gonna need a lot of blood if you expect me to-”

Bill was cut off as a loud crash sounded from the other side of the room. They looked and to their dismay, found the small mirror on the wall smashed to bits. But that had only been the beginning. The ceramic coffee cup Ford had left on his desk exploded and then the tremors started. Books fell from the bookshelves as the floor shook beneath them violently.

“Is it safe to use the elevator?” Dipper shouted over the whine of the metal room shifting around them and Bill shrugged with a mischievous grin as he shoved the young Pines towards the questionable escape route “Let’s find out~!”

“Bill, no! There’s gotta be an escape hatch or something!” But it was too late. Bill shoved him inside the rattling death machine and kept him against the back of the elevator a he punched in the F1 button. 

It shook violently like a car over road markers and Dipper latched his claws onto the not broken arm of the demon who laughed at him manically. This was how Dipper Pines died. Not really but by the way his heart was pounding at his chest he was pretty sure he had almost had a heart-attack.

It seemed that they were going up forever and it wasn't until the elevator opened that Dipper stopped crouching behind the demon. He didn't care how it looked, he dove out of that thing.

“It was safe after all. Lucky us, huh~?” Dipper glared at Bill “If you ever do that to me again, Bill, I swear…” as they climbed the stair to the vending machine screams could be heard and Dipper looked to the uncaring demon in worry before speeding up.

Everything had been destroyed.

Well, maybe that was a bit dramatic.

The gift shop had become an obstacle course of broken glass and knocked over shelves and racks-everything had bite marks. Dipper had to helped his injured companion over some things and Bill reluctantly accepted the help. 

Outside was so much worse. The backyard that had not long before held at least forty partying people having nothing but fun, now only held scraps of table cloths and crumbs of the snacks they had had. Was that a puddle of blood next to where the gift table had once been or the spilled remains of the punch bowl?

He yanked at his hair in exasperation and panic when it all started to sink in for him. The hog monsters had taken them (hopefully) alive. 

“Shit.” Dipper mumbled angrily and looked to the only living, sentient being he could find anywhere in sight for help on understanding what to do next. A broad smile stretched across the demon’s pale face.

“The invasion started already, huh? Guess that means it’s up to me to uphold our deal~”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pppsssst.
> 
> I have a secret proposition for you! 
> 
> Mysterious Mr.K was working on an amazing Billdip story called Astrophiliac but then Mr.K was a butt and stopped working on it! You should all go and read that story and leave some comments on it so they work on it more!
> 
> I would put a link to it... but I don't really know how to embed links on this site so here is the information:
> 
> Astrophiliac by yunabunny 
> 
> Anywho! School it wrapping up so summer is sure to see the end of this story! Hope you stick around to see this story through!


	46. Another Sacrifice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey hey~ new chapter! I had some major writers block but I managed to power through it to give you this! Hope you enjoy.

Dipper’s feet were blistered from walking so long. His blisters had blisters. He was tired and hungry but they only were able to bring a few bags of chips before they headed out into the woods. He wanted to stop for the night but slapped himself mentally at the thought of wasting precious time on something as frivolous as sleep seemed. Everyone he cared dearly about was either dead or alive and the implications of that scared him with worry.

This was Bill’s half of the deal; patch up the tear he had made and get rid of any creatures it had brought in. It would be hard and in Bill’s injured state he would need assistance even if he hadn't yet asked for it. They would have to travel back to the mountain- the source of the tear- and then Bill said he would be able to close it, even if he didn't like the sound of it at all.

Traveling in the now inky, moonless night was much slower paced and quite a bit more dangerous. If Dipper could recall correctly, Ford had mentioned that the Hog Monsters had terrible vision during the day but at night…

No no, he wouldn't think about it. This trip was already plagued with the worry of Goblins catching their scent it was not a good idea to add the creatures who apparently ate everything they could get their black talons on.

The wind whistled by them and Dipper shivered involuntarily. Bill stopped abruptly, almost causing Dipper to crash into Bill but he caught himself just in time and looked to the blonde in slight annoyance. His eye was scanning the forest around them scrutinizingly before abruptly turning to face his human.

“Welp! Walking is getting boring and you are completely unresponsive. We need to get up into the trees.” Dipper frowned deeply “Why are we going to climb trees?” That made Bill wag his index finger in correction as he assessed a large oak near to where they stood. “Wrong question. How would be the correct one.”

Dipper watched as Bill attempted to climb the tree with one arm and heard the demon growl low in his throats when he struggled but surprisingly managed to swing his body up onto the lowest branch. In all honesty, he did feel bad for what had happened to Bill’s arm but earlier in the day he had offered to wrap it up in gauze and the blond had snapped at him saying he was fine. Though it was beyond obvious that it was not fine. 

“Better start climbing, Pinetree. Those ‘hog monsters’ are Styrinx and the Styrinx kind can see waaay better at night than the pathetically underdeveloped human race. So unless you want to wake up as a mangled corpse between a set of twelve inch incisors I would suggest you get on up here.”

There wasn't much room for arguing there- well, unless Dipper was willing to question his knowledge on the subject but he was fairly certain Stanford had told him something to that effect quite a while back.

It wasn't with its own struggles actually going about the process of scaling the bark. When was the last time he had climbed a tree anyway? Three? Four years ago? And that was not taking into account that this pine was three times as thick as the sort of trees he grew up scraping his kneecaps raw on. Bill didn't offer any sort of help and it took several long and annoyingly frustrating minutes before he managed to throw his leg over the side of the branch with a sigh of relief bursting from his lungs as if he had held his breath the whole time.

And then there was that demon leaning against the trunk of the tree, arms crossed and a whole-heartedly sinister grin splayed across those dangerously sharp face angles. “Have I ever told you how much I enjoy you struggling?” Dipper glared for a moment but let out another sigh when exhaustion crept up his spine on needle pen-pricks reminding himself of just how awful his sleeping patterns had been over this whole ordeal.

“So, what now? I mean, how do you expect us to sleep in a tree without falling out?” He didn't even care at this point that his voice was dripping with irritation. Dipper just wanted to sleep- preferable without the notch on the branch digging into his butt if he could manage.

“I think it's pretty obvious that you're going to fall off if you don't lean against the trunk like I am.” Dipper stared at Bill for a long moment, a decisively longer moment than was really necessary but you can't blame him for getting a bit lost in that bright golden eye that seemed to glow in the dark. But soon enough he blinked the spell away.

“Then I’ll just… climb to the next branch then.” Before his brain had even given his body the order to move, Bill’s good arm shot out and the nails of his ungloved hands dug into his wrist lightly. “Okay, wow. I thought you were the least moronic Pines but I guess you are all pretty useless when it comes to taking hints.”

Bill let out a hum as he thought over just how to word it to get the best reaction out of his human. “I need blood or I am going to die before morning and for everyone's convenience you are going to sleep with me.”

The wind blew by noisily and shivers threatened to erupt from goosebumps on his arms despite the heat forming on his cheeks. He found himself nodding dumbly before he could stop himself. Bill’s grin dropped and his eyebrows rose in a brilliant arch. Slowly, his smile returned and he shook his head with a puff of a laugh “You always do something unexpected, don't you, Pinetree?”

“W-What? Did I do something weird or something?” Dipper stuttered out, flustered. Causing the demon to roll his eye “Of course you did. But I like it when you get weird.” Oh no. Dipper stiffened when he realized just how close the two of them were and quickly sat more erect “Right. You need blood.”

“You're such a mood killer, kid.” The blond sighed with a breeze of announce adding sharp edges to his words as he let go of Dipper’s wrist to pull his switchblade out of his pants pocket. Boredom settling into his eye where curiosity had once flickered. 

Dipper took the blade from him with an unimpressed glare “My twin sister, my great uncles, and everyone else was taken-” “Or eaten.” Bill felt the need to add. Dipper closed his eyes as he tried not to yell “Or eaten. I am not going to mess around with you when they could be in serious danger!” 

With some hesitation and reluctance, Dipper scooted closer to Bill and brought the blade to his wrist “Don’t do it there. Knowing your horrible aim you’ll cut too deep and bleed out. Do it downwards from the base of your neck- and does it always turn that pink when you're mad? It suits you~” begrudgingly, the Pines place the cold metal to his neck and readied himself for the pain but not before pointing the knife at Bill and warning sternly “This, is not because I like it but because I have to do it to save Mabel.”

“Yeah, sure. Whatever lie you want to tell yourself.” It was late, and in all honesty, there was no more energy to spare on arguing with Bill so Dipper placed the blade beside his neck. With a calming breath, in one quick movement he pushed the blade a quarter of an inch down.

A hiss left his lips at the pain but at least the cold air was hidden from him as Bill brought Dipper against him and yanked his jacket to the side, allowing him to latch his mouth onto the bleeding wound. He let out a groan of what only could be pleasure and Dipper bit his lip at the sound. No. This was suppose to be gross. The smell of his own iron rich blood being sacrificed to an entity from another plane of existence was suppose make him want to gag or push Bill off him but instead, Dipper found himself tilting head to the side, allowing him to have better access- and god damnit, why the hell did he just let himself sigh like that? 

A bandaged hand slid across Dipper’s back sinisterly and Dipper had the right of mind left in him to push it away when it crept too low.

There was no real way of knowing how long they were like that and despite how rigide he had gone in Bill’s tight hold, Dipper found himself nodding off. It might've been the heat his face was stained with or the fact that harsh and greedy sucking turn to licks and light kisses- or maybe he had lost a little too much blood, but soon Dipper slumped into the demon’s chest.

The forest was quiet for a long time. Long after Bill had gotten bored of kissing his sleeping human and slowly ran the fingers of his bandaged but usable hand through soft brown hair. Despite the deal the two of them had made Bill found himself pathetically in pain again. His chest was constricting and the human thoughts were quickly flooding his mind.

That’s when he heard a branch snap. The disappearance of the moon was little help to aid his eye to find the source of the noise. There was another crunch of plant, now closer to the tree they were in and that's when he caught sight of the red beady eyes below. The Styrinx was sniffing the air noisily. It had probably been in the area and had picked up on the smell of blood they had caused but Bill knew what he was doing when he had gotten them both up into the tree. Their lack of a necks made it impossible for them to know that the tree was where they were and after a minute or two, the creature had given up and walked off slowly.

Dipper stirred a little and Bill’s eye shifted away from where he had seen the Styrinx go and watched the way Dipper rubbed his face into his collar. Bill didn't deny himself the right to loop his arm around his waist. 

If only he could have Dipper laid out against his chest like this while he burned the eyes out of his enemies and enslaved the human race to build monuments in his glory.

But this was fine… even if it would soon be over. Despite what his brain had told him was right, he still wanted Dipper more than anything. 

Bill glared up at the empty night sky. “Nice try wise guy, but I don't learn lessons.” No one answered him

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, Bill... what did you make Dipper agree to? 
> 
> Find out by reading more! (When I post more of course)


	47. Of Retractions And Reactions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello~ been a bit but the writer's block has gone away for the most part. I hope you enjoy this new installment of The Stone in His Chest~

The morning was dismal and rose with it a mood bordering on mournful between Dipper and Bill. They had no food or water. After giving Bill more blood once he had woken up Dipper was feeling anemic and more than a little lethargic. At the very least, he was glad Bill had used a bit of his restored magic to break his oddly healing radius bone into a less disturbing angle. The demon had bitched about the swelling far too much for Dipper’s liking and already not being in the mood for his shit in such an exhausted state, Dipper snapped at Bill to stop poking the swollen arm if it hurt so much.

“What stick lodged itself up your ass, Pinetree?” Bill practically sang as he leaned his torso forward to get a look at Dipper’s face as they walked side by side up the mountain trail. He found himself sighing for what must've been the eighty-third time in the last two hours. 

“Look. I’m exhausted and hungry and the longer we take to fix all this stuff the more likely people are going to get eaten! So could you please just shut up for a while?” “Saying that only makes me want to annoy you more, kid~” the demon then had the gall to poke Dipper’s nose with a ‘boop’ noise. 

And that’s when Dipper bit Bill’s finger…. it, didn't quite draw the right reaction he had hoped for as a long and low hum reverberated in the Demon’s chest, Dipper instantly let go and looked down at the rocky path beneath his feet. “God, why are you such a weirdo?”

He didn't have to look over to know that Bill was licking the finger The had been in Dipper’s mouth and a bright red stained Dipper's cheeks and ears as embarrassment flooded his body. This was just the demon’s way of provoking him and damn it was a good try but Dipper wouldn't let Bill get what he wanted.

It was still just a thought- an idea slowly working its way through his head and yet Dipper was putting all his faith in it in hopes of finding a loophole in the clause of the deal they had made. It was sneaky and Bill would probably be furious but Dipper knew he would never be able to fulfill his half of it. So to give Bill what he wanted right then would only make it that much more painful for both of them.

“Stop working yourself up so much. You're already weak and pathetic enough. Don't want you to pass out on me! Because if you do I'll leave you right where you fall and maybe, just maybe I'll come back for you when I've finished up here.” That false joy clung to Bill’s words so much like they normally did that Dipper had almost forgotten how he was when he wasn't in pain, or jealous, or pissed off… when he was… happy? Is that what he was at that moment? When Bill was Bill everything seemed better.

A smile fluttered onto Dipper’s lips but he didn't look over to the blond teen walking beside him “I’ll make sure I don't pass out then, jerk.” Bill was eyeing him, wondering what was going on in his head but Dipper ignored him.

Relief washed over every muscle in his fatigued body when Bill and him reached the cave dried blood still clung to. The demon looked over his other worldly ramblings appreciatively but his grin soon disappeared and a bitterness bit the air around him. Dipper hesitated for a brief moment, then spoke up. “Hey, so, um… what are we supposed to do?”

“Hmm. Essentially I have to take back the sacrifices. Without them, the tear will be out of juice.” He was tapping his chin is thought as he leaned to look at the bloody symbols on the wall and sniffed it. Ignoring Bill’s peculiarities, Dipper shrugged and took a step forward “Great! So how do we do this?”

A sly grin crept onto Bill’s face as he turned his head slowly to meet his human’s pale face “How does licking these walls clean sound?” If there had been anything in his stomach, the mere suggestion would have made Dipper lose it. He scrunched up his nose in disgust, drawing a disappointed sigh from Bill “well it will take hours for me to do it on my o-” he cut himself off as an idea flicker to life behind his eye “Unless I do that.” the silence was creeping Dipper out and he ventured to ask worriedly “‘that’? W-what is ‘that’?”

Bill’s grin returned, “Remember that threat I gave you?” “Which one?” “The one about not passing out?” Okay, now Dipper was growing nervous. He backed up a few steps and narrowed his eyes on that seemingly sinister gleam of the single golden iris. “Why?”

“Because, you're not allowed to pass out when you see what I am about to do like most weak minded humans.” Before Dipper could offer any protest, Bill turned to the wall with a groan of irritation “This is going to be putrid, and not in the fun way.” 

The air in the cave stiffened and the already dreary color of dried blood turned a dark grey- everything was grey. Dipper watched in some odd mix between horror and amazement as long, black tendrils of tentacles rose out of the front of Bill, who was faced away from him. Probably to save him the horror of knowing exactly where those extra appendages were coming out of. Slick and snake-like,   
they slid up and the blood that had become grey now turned scarlet on the monochrome background. Whatever Bill was doing turned the coagulated blood back into liquid which he then guided with his tentacles in a gravity defying slow moving stream in the air before being brought down to Bill’s mouth-

Dipper had to look away. He now knew why his demon had warned him. That had been (for lack of a better word) disturbing. After what seemed like an eternity but was more likely a minute color slid back into place and Dipper chanced a look back at Bill and found him straightening the sweater vest he had been stuck wearing since the last time they had come to this mountain. He smacked his lips with a deep frown on his face.

“You better be grateful, kid. I don't make it a habit of doing things like that. It always tastes better coming out than going in if you know what I mean.” No. Dipper honestly didn't know what he meant. The idea of asking Bill what ‘that’ had been crossed Dipper’s mind but he quickly abandoned it. He really, really didn't need to know.

“So the tear, is it gone for good?” Bill rested his good hand on his hip and gave Dipper a haughty look “Did you really think I couldn't do something as simple as this? Please.” Dipper took that as a yes and a smile took over his face before he could stop it “Thank you.”

There was a long moment when the demon just stared at him with that bored expression of his. “You're doing it again. Stop.” The words weren't really spoken angrily but a frustration was evident as Bill started out of the cave. Dipper followed after him in confusion “What did I do?”

He didn't turn back to Dipper as he called back “You're being adorable again. And frankly, if you keep it up much longer, so help me I will do something about it.” 

There wasn't any way of keeping his face from heating up and as he fell into step with Bill he mumbled out “you're a freak.” “And you love it~”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah Dipper, stop being so adorable! 
> 
> This couple sure has an odd love hate relationship... and a bullet proof glass nestled in between them called their deal.
> 
> They have some work ahead of themselves. make sure to read on to know what happens next!


	48. Predator Vs. Protector

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey hey~ good news everyone! I have finished writing this story! There will be 54 chapters and I will be adding new tags for characters and warnings.
> 
> So here is chapter 48! Hope you enjoy!

They had been trekking through the dense woods all morning. Dipper’s leg was giving a dull throb where Bill had shot him and he quickly messaged it ever so often in hopes of alleviating some of the pain. They had no food or water - save for the occasional stream they past or the sardines Bill would conjure up with his newly restored magic- Dipper didn’t like to show it on the bases that Bill would complain or get angry, but he wasn’t feeling too hot.

The demon was looking ahead to their invisible path through the woods that he swore was ‘The right way’ whenever Dipper asked. The right way to what, he had no idea. Hopefully back to Gravity Falls- back to town where he could get some real food. But then, there were the Styrinxs to think about, and that made Dipper slouch a little more into himself as they walked.

In waves he would tune into Bill’s never ending conversation with him and would give a small grunt in acknowledgement and that was apparently all he needed to keep the conversation going. Dipper hadn’t even realized how loud Bill was, manic voice bouncing around the nearly deserted forest, until suddenly he stopped talking for a moment.

“Your leg is bothering you.” Bill observed coolly without so much as a glance over at Dipper. How had he even noticed? He must have secretly been keeping an eye on him- or course he was- Dipper managed to push away his paranoia and wrecked his brain to respond to Bill. “Huh? Er, yeah- I mean, I guess. I’m fine though.”

Bill stopped in his tracks abruptly, causing Dipper to run into him but that was of little concern as he was forcefully pushed down to sit on a nearby moss covered log. He watched as Bill rolled his eye like he thought Dipper was an idiot. “We can afford a tiny, tini break since this little quest of ours has been going oh so swimmingly~ “

The log groaned a little when Bill through himself down on it to sit right up against Dipper. He was checking out the dirt under his nails when he clipped on nonchalantly “Plus, you’re no use to me crippled or dead.” Dipper supposed that this was what Bill caring about his well being looked like and let out a sigh only to realize just how close they were to each other. If he wanted he could kiss- he wasn’t the only one who noticed, Bill’s eye had flickered down to Dipper’s lips.

Dipper started to snicker. “We always do this. We fight and say that we’re done with each other and then we end up like this.” he gestured to the non existent space between them and shook his head, even as a small smile crept onto his lips. Bill had threaded his hand greedily into Dipper’s hair “I just wish we could have a normal relationship- I would even settle for a semi-normal relationship. This is just exhausting.” 

 

“Pfft. Normalcy, more like mundane- boring! I'm just saying.” Dipper smiled and leaned into Bill's touch. “Who would want to be normal anyway?” It was sarcasm but Bill’s face lit up with a bright grin. His breath fanning over Dipper's face now. Their lips mere inches away. “Now you're finally making sense!”

There was something chaotically impossible to decipher about the multiverse that caused the two of them to end up like this over and over. Like two contracting magnets. They couldn't pull back, invisible magnetic fields drew them into each other.

Had the two of them not been so absorbed in the passionate process of sucking each other's faces off they might have noticed the crack of twigs. But as it was, Dipper was yanking at the demon’s messy hair before he knew it. Bill was shoving his hand beneath Dipper's shirt and running his nails over his nipples deliciously rough. Their tongues clashed harshly together in a battle for dominance. Gasps and breathy moans spilling out between their feverish kiss.

And then an explosion erupted right behind Bill’s head. Ringing stung Dipper’s ears. It felt as though he was moving in slow motion as he detached from Bill and looked around in a haze. His heart pounded as adrenaline quickly replaced arousal… well, at least pushed it to the side.

Dipper had been about to duck behind the log. From his racing thoughts came the distorted warning of the Styrinx after them. But he hadn't even began to move from where he was sitting when his eyes finally landed on the one who had shot at them. The bushes had parted with the deafening sound of leafy branches breaking or smacking into each other in the wanderer’s path. There stood Ford. A long barreled cannon hung over his stiff shoulder and his face was more stubbled over than usual.

The relief came first knowing that at least Ford had escaped capture giving hope to the possibility others had as well. Then there was that awkward guilt that had settled in place. Bill gave one of Dipper’s arms that he had not let go of an almost painful squeeze. 

Dipper's eyes briefly flickered back towards the demon. Pure annoyance was dripping from his deep frown and half mast eyelids. With a small tug, Dipper managed to let the demon know he wanted his arm back. Bill hesitated. Eyes firmly focused on Ford, who had yet to approached or lowered his weapon. Then, reluctantly, Bill let go of Dipper. Deep crescent shaped marks were left in his wake just above Dipper’s wrist. For some reason, that made his chest swell with happiness.

Yep. The blood loss was turning him into a loon.

Ford grumbled something under his breath and lowered the cannon from his shoulder. He adjusted his glasses, ignoring the crack that ran across one lens. In the suddenly very silent and still forest Ford’s voice seemed to boom though he spoke in a calm, hushed tone.

“My hand must have slipped. Good thing I didn't blast your head off into oblivion. It was so close.”

Bill's face split into a sticky grin that was anything but happy. The air was growing thick with tension and Dipper went to push himself up from the log. “Uncle Ford, er, wow. I'm so glad you managed to escape- where's everyone else? Did Grunkle Stan and Mabel get out too? What about-”

In his rush to stand, Dipper became light headed from all the stress and needs of his body not met over the last few days. He wanted to throw up, he wanted to sit back down because now he had a migraine pushing at the back of his left eye.

Long fingers with symbols etched into their flesh grabbed hold of Dipper's wrist and yanked him back down to the log. Even in his fuzzy state of mind Dipper felt the warmth against his back and knew it was Bill. Feeling embarrassed, Dipper tried to separate from Bill but his voice came to his ear with a definitive clarity that could not be ignored.

“Stay. Still.”

Dipper stared up at the treetops but couldn't focus on them. Their lines blurring together every other beat of his heart. He was vaguely aware that Stanford and Bill were fighting. Something about how Bill wasn't taking care of Dipper's basic needs and that Stanford didn't know shit about what Dipper needs were. He just couldn't find the strength to care at the moment.

“He doesn't need a degenerate leech like you hanging off him. Dipper needs medical attention so hand him over, Bill.” The demon growled and raked his fingers through Dipper's unkempt hair, earning him a small sigh from his exhausted human companion. 

“I know this game of yours, Fordsy. You're gonna take him away and brainwash him into thinking I'm evil-” “What are you-” Ford tried to cut in but Bill continued, raising his voice and pointing accusingly at the scientist “And then, you’ll lock me up far away from him and torture me. Oh, but not this time. I'm staying right here. With him. And you can't do shit to stop me!” 

This… took a moment for Ford to process. Bill seemed off. Was he suffering from similar symptoms of starvation and exhaustion? It was hard to tell what anything meant when it came to Bill Cipher but this side of Bill seemed… vulnerable. Ford carefully approached. Bloodshot gold eye following his every move pensively. An inhuman growl erupted from the blond’s throat when Ford kneeled beside Dipper but he chose to focus on his grandnephew.

“Dipper, can you hear me?” There was a brief nod and then he turned his face away from the treetops to meet Ford’s concern. His head felt heavy and he knew he was resting it on Bill’s shoulder but pretended he hadn't noticed yet.

“Sorry, I got a little bit light-headed but I think I'm okay now.” A long sigh escaped the weathered lips of the older Pines. His eyes wandered over to Bill again and he was glaring harshly at him like he was a intruder. Dipper imagined Bill as a wolf trying to drag its prey off into the wood where no one would find it but then, being caught by the prey’s protective parent.

A laugh burst out of him without much warning to the rest of his body. He hadn't even thought that what his mind had come up with was that funny but he was brought to near hysteria.

When he had calmed down some but still grinning from ear to ear, Dipper sat up on his own and shook his head a little to clear the lingering chuckles away. “‘Em sorry, sorry. I just need to take a break.”

“You can save your apologies for when you start making sense and explain where you've been this whole time. But for now, I'll take you back to camp .”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I posted this chapter earlier today but then realized the whole first half was gone! So I quickly rewrote it and I think it came out better! 
> 
> I hoped you liked this chapter and look forward to more~


	49. Dark, Safe, and Frustrating as Hell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow. This chapter is like... a mile long. I just couldn't figure out a good place to break it up. Hope you enjoy~!

Dipper woke up with a start. He had been having an awful dream in which red symbols burned red hot and Mabel was sleeping and wouldn't wake up. It had felt oddly familiar, raising the hairs on his arms and sending an uneasy shiver down his spine.

“I really wish I could've seen what your subconscious was brewing while you were sleeping. Looked fun~!” 

Bill's voice rumbled from the darker corner of wherever they were. It looked like a sun bleached army green tent. Dipper looked around a bit more and let out a “huh.” Because it was a sun bleached army green tent. How had they gotten here? His mind was a bit fuzzy on the details but he distinctly remembered Ford had found them.

The demon sighed in exasperation and crawled over to Dipper until his hands lay on either side of Dipper's head. He towered over the groggy teen with a sly grin overwhelming the rest of his face. “Oh, Pinetree~ I feel cheated out of sucking your face off earlier.”

Dipper met Bill's eye and gave an awkward smile. He was pretty sure he was okay with things that happened in the heat of the moment but to talk about what they did or talk about doing it again really made Dipper's anxiety flare up.

“R-right. Um. We were doing… things… but-”

“Well, let’s get back to it then!” Bill breathed out airily as he dove down to capture Dipper’s lips, who in turn gave a surprised yelp before the lips smashed into his. It wasn't quite painful but it added a humming sting to the mix of their teeth and tongue kiss. Dipper didn't resist it for more than a second or two before his own desire won over the power of his will.

Lazy drags of Bill's hand running over Dipper's stomach sent a groan out between their lips and Bill shuddered with pleasure as he ate it up. The sudden loss of contact made Dipper whine. Bill was grinning down at him with hunger as he repositioned himself to straddle Dipper's thighs.

Watching as Bill's hand ghost over the front of his jeans made Dipper's breath hitch. Fingers crept beneath the lip of his pants and Dipper couldn't stop himself from grabbing hold of that hand tightly. Heat had spread across his face and it only intensified when the eye- burning gold iris that danced with a heated blue flame of want- travel up his body to meet his eyes.

“Wait. Where are we- where’s Ford?” Dipper managed to croak out. There was a silence for a moment and then Bill was pouting- was that a pout? “You are the worst, Dipper Pines. Bringing up your relatives when I'm trying to sex you up? If I wasn't so mentally attached to you I’d break up with you.” Yep. Definitely pouting.

Dipper sat up and glanced to the shut flap of the tent as he tried to comb down his bed head with his fingers. “Were we ever really dating in the first place? Pass me my shoes right there.”

“I know enough about the weird breeding rituals of humans to know when I'm dating someone, Pinetree.” Bill scoffed as he threw Dipper’s shoes in his general direction. Hm. Dipper hadn't really thought about it, but now that he did… Bill and him had done practically all the mushy date stuff in a chaotic or disturbing way. There had been a point when he could call what they were doing ‘dating’ somewhere after the hate but before the bloodshed. And he had called Bill his boyfriend a few times… huh.

Happiness swelled in Dipper’s chest but he was drawn out of his thoughts by the rough tugging of his cheek. “Ewww. This tent is filling with feelings. I'm going to stand outside and rub dirt in my eye until I feel better about my this-life choices.”

A grin spilled out onto Dipper's face. There was something extremely satisfying about making Bill uncomfortable and force him into slipping up and talking about their relationship. Dipper didn't think he'd ever call Bill his boyfriend again or his partner comfortably but he was filled with a warm feeling knowing that Bill was his still. He intended to keep it that way.

It wasn't more than a minute before Dipper found himself venturing outside the tent. He was surprised to see that this little camp was fashioned together near the abandoned church in a thick patch of bushes. There was one other tent a few feet from the one he had been sleeping in. The sky was dark but for obvious reasons (such as not letting the Styrinx find them) no campfire was erected.

Bill sat in the dirt with his back against a tree glaring across the way where Ford sat on a log discussing a plan of attack with the other survivors. It was hard to make out in the darkness who they were for a long time but he came to recognize the shapes of Tad Strange, Wendy, Lazy Susan, Melody, Soos, and Stan.

Dread filled his chest when he saw no sign of Mabel. 

“Oh, your finally awake then.” Ford called out quietly. Careful to keep their existence unknown. There was an odd mix of alien emotions on his great uncle’s face. A cross breed hybrid of hate and love, disgust and sadness, but overall a sense of betrayal lingered in the air around Stanford.

Dipper winced and involuntary took a step away from him. It had looked - and he realized this only after the fact- like he had been taking a step closer to Bill. The demon had almost burst out into a victorious giggle fit. And maybe… just maybe, Dipper had meant to take a step towards Bill. He had been rebelling against Stanford on the matter of his relationship with Bill Cipher before all this mess and it seemed that things were still jumbled between them.

The tension in the air seemed to eat away at everyone's already frayed nerves. Dipper huffed out a long sigh and started low, almost under his breath. “Look, I know you hate it. I'm just not really in the mood to fight right now.” Ford’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. As if he hadn't known that his face was giving off waves of disapproval and didn't expect to be confronted so directly.

Dipper dropped his gaze from the prolonged stare. His ratty sneakers pushing the damp dirt around for a moment before he met Stanford’s wary expression with one of determination, “So, at the very least, can we work together to save Mabel and everyone else?”

Ford’s eye flicked over to where Bill was meticulously stacking the dirt into a pyramid shape. His eye was twitching in irritation, like he had gotten some of the dirt in it. Stanford honestly did not see the appeal to human Bill. At the very least in his delta form a certain otherworldly mystical ora shrouded him. Now… he was just a dangerously insane teenager with powers. 

Stanford did not like it one bit. But then there was Mabel to think about. He would worry about Dipper later. A long sigh escaped his lips and a six fingered hand came up to grab hold of his jaw, covered in the fine grey hair of a forming beard. He kept his hold of his face for a moment, thinking.

Then, he let go as he finally had his thoughts organized. “We’ve been planning a surprise attack at midday tomorrow morning.” He started slowly. Dipper felt a wave of relief wash over his whole body but his brain quickly chastised him about getting his hopes raised too highly. After all, Stanford was merely agreeing to work together for Mabel’s sake. Something told him that once this was all over his great uncle would go right back to protesting his relationship with Bill.

“Wendy and I have been scouting out the Hog Monsters’ movements over the last three days. Yesterday, they led us into the center of town.” There was a change in the way Ford had been talking now. As if his recollection was actually a highly sophisticated debriefing for a top secret mission… well, until Wendy chimed in, “Yeah, it was messed up, man. Those things have got everyone trapped in some dome-shaped cryogenic sleep chamber… thing.” 

Her eyebrows drew together and she went on more hesitantly. “At least they looked like they were sleeping. they're all sleeping, right?” Nobody really had an answer for that one and the dark night became void of sound.

“It looks as if they were planning on using the tear to return to whatever world they originated from but it closed up miraculously yesterday morning.” Ford finished with a casual shrug and sat purposefully between Stan and Lazy Susan. Most likely to save his brother from the waitress’ constant flirting. 

“So we gotta just run up on them attack? That's your plan?” Stan grumbled more in irritation than anger. Ford narrowed his eyes at him in return “Yes, that is my plan. Do you have anything better?” Bill rolled his eye as an amused smile slid onto his face. Dipper noticed and guessed the demon was inwardly laughing at ‘human naïveté’. No one here knew the enemy's name or that it had been Bill who closed the rift. It made Dipper feel like he was hiding it from them but he couldn't tell them… it just felt wrong to talk about he and Bill had done and talked about.

“We need more weapons. We've only got your blaster, two plastic forks, a pizza cutter, and Soos’ wrench.” Melody pointed out from where she sat, leaning heavily on Soos against a tree. She looked exhausted and her hands were wrapped protectively over her stomach. 

Soos shook his head, worry and stress evident on his face. He gave her hand a squeeze making Melody smile. The exchange was brief but Dipper felt himself smile just the slightest amount. His friend really was in love with her. He hoped the best for them. 

“Sorry guys. But I need to stay here and make sure nothing happens to Melody.” 

Wendy offered Soos and Melody a reassuring smile “We totally understand. Don't we Stans?” The last part was said almost like a challenge to the older men. As if saying ‘I dare you to say otherwise’. Both Stanley and Stanford nodded in agreement before returning to strategizing with the utmost seriousness.

Lazy Susan had dozed off at some point, leaning against Ford’s shoulder, who refused to acknowledge it. Tad Strange had settled down before Dipper had ever emerged from the tent- something about going to bed by eight o’clock- and laid stiff as a corps on the bed of pine needles the forest floor had offered.

Dipper had given up on standing around and sat in the prickles of leaves. He had waited and listened as Stan and Ford argued over the plan of attack well into the night, adding in his own opinion every once in awhile. What time was it? His internal clock told him it was some ridiculous time like two in the morning. Dipper’s eyelids felt heavy. He checked on Wendy and saw her head was lolling to the side. Just a bit more to the left, Soos and Melody were sleeping against a thick redwood tucked into each other for warmth.

Over his shoulder, Bill sat against a tree of his own as shown by the pyramid of dirt built alongside him. His gold eye was half lidded but more in immense irrigation rather than sleepiness. Noticing Dipper was looking over to him, Bill opened his arms, beckoning the human to climb into his lap. Dipper shook his head but he couldn't stop a smile from spreading out on his face.

“Pppssst.” Bill whisper loudly the moment Dipper turned his head away from him and he received an eye roll and Dipper mouthed the word ‘what?’. The demon then pointed at Stan and Ford and shook his head almost as if in disgust then pointed to Dipper and himself, then two finger kicking back and forth as if they were a pair of legs walking. He finished by pointing into the pitch black woods behind him and raising an eyebrow questioningly.

There was a hesitation for several good reasons. A guilt flared up in Dipper's chest when he realized one of the main reasons was his lack of trust in Bill but he told himself Bill had given him every reason not to trust. Another main reason was his great uncles still arguing, but by this time it was becoming less realistic plans and even less convincing arguments.

Finally, that part of him that just couldn't say no to the demon came forward and he found himself walking off into the woods with Bill. Ford and Stan too engrossed with their debate and too tired to notice the two teens sneaking off. 

Clomping sounds of dead leaves and summer scorched grass being kicked and smashed under their feet filled the forest around them. A worry of discovery was somewhere buzzing in the back of Dipper's skull but he paid it no mind. Something about being alone with Bill again was making him choke on fluttering butterflies. 

When they had put some distance between them and the dark and quiet camp, Bill let out a dramatic sigh of what Dipper assumed was frustration. 

“Fuck.” 

After dragging Dipper away from everyone else- after they had made out with so much passion and (dare he say) love earlier in the day… all Bill could come up with was ‘Fuck.’

Laughter rattled Dipper's chest. It didn't make sense and it hurt somewhere- maybe his spleen- but fuck was really the best word to sum up how he felt about everything that had happened so far. 

“You are tickled pink by the strangest of things.” Bill observed as Dipper slowly came out of his fit of laughter. He waited impatiently until the human settled down. At some point between the swearing and laughing they had come to a stop in front of one of the many indistinguishable trees. 

They stood close together, closer than most would feel comfortable with. Bill threw his head back and groaned.

“Fuck.”

A smile fluttered onto Dipper's lips but it wilted and he searched the demon’s posture for an answer. “What?” Bill seemed to think over his question then rolled his eye and looked him over. 

“Well for one you’re welcome you ungrateful brat. I only undressed you with my mind’s eye while you geeked over ol’ sixer. Do you know how hard it is to keep this meat suit satiated?” There was not a moment to respond before an open hand came hurtling towards Dipper's face. He flinched but the bandaged hand froze right before making contact and he watched as a conflict of emotion raged a war on Bill’s face.

Dipper wanted no more than to pull Bill to him and comfort him. He knew what was happening in Bill’s head though, so he remained where he was. The demon could try working the fighting out on his own. 

There was a long silence only filled with the worked up breath pumping in and out of Bill’s lungs. Finally, the blond decided on his next move and took a step away from Dipper. His face was slack and almost withdrawn. It made Dipper's stomach burn painfully.

“I can't deal with this shit and focus on our deal, Pinetree. Besides, the more we act like this, the less confidence I have in you keeping your end up.”

It was as if a cold slab of steel was thrown at Dipper and it had lodged somewhere deep in his throat. Bill was scared. He didn't give a fuck what the other dimensional creature had spewed out, he knew Bill better than the demon thought he did. His body and mind were fighting against his twisted conscious. They wanted Dipper. So much so that they ached. Dipper felt it too. But Bill didn't want his humanity to rule him so he was fighting it with everything he had. He wanted what the Bill that had started Weirdmagedon wanted. Dipper just wondered if this Bill really wanted that or just thought he wanted it.

This deal- why did Dipper agree to this? His fists clenched at his sides and he nodded jerkily. “Yeah, I get it.” The words were filled with venom and Bill smiled in amusement half-heartedly. Dipper turned away and was about to head back to where everyone else was when a growl called after him. “Don't get your panties in a twist.” Dipper stopped but didn't turn. Bill continued, “I'm going to kill all the Strinx early in the morning. Be awake when I leave or stay with those obnoxious sacks of flesh and blood you like so much.”

His blood was boiling. Why did Bill always have to get like this? Dipper turned around in an angry whipping motion, ready to snarl ‘Fine.’ Back at the demon. What he was met with was confusing.

Bill was up in his face and there was not even a second for Dipper to react before Bill kissed him with all the passion of a raging fire. Dipper's brain no longer could keep up and his body was forced to act. But instead of yanking the demon away, he dragged him forward until he felt the stab of wood in his back. 

There was nothing gentle or hesitant about this exchange. Both were angry and frustrated that they couldn’t have this- couldn't have each other. Crude sucking and slurping sounds escaped their kiss. They turned their heads in the opposite direction, trying desperately to deepen it. Yanking at hair and nails digging into heated flesh was only fuel to their fire.

Bill's mouth tasted like blood and dirt. Almost like you would expect a corps to (minus the rotting flesh, thankfully) and Dipper knew he was weird but he never knew himself to be weird enough to moan at that taste. Maybe it was not so much of the taste that caused him to moan as it was the fact that it was Bill.

Limbs tangled and fought over tugging and hair, clawing marks on necks and arms. Bill’s good arm retreated momentarily to grab hold of Dipper's ass. It was all madness as Dipper jumped up and wrapped his legs around the demon's waist. Bill slapped his ass before running that hand down the curve of Dipper's jean shorts to the front where a raging hardon was waiting for him. There was no jokes or teasing. That would have broken this spell and brought in too much reality.

Without and warning, a cold, hand wrapped in blood stained gauze dove into the front of his shorts. The pain was excruciating for Bill, having to use the bad arm’s help. But he barely noticed in the rush of pleasure. Damn it. Dipper let out a breathy whimper. In a fit of vengefulness, Dipper sunk his teeth harshly into the shoulder that was conveniently within biting range.

Bill tossed him a surprised look, as if Dipper biting him had brought him out of whatever haze of lust they had both entered. His human released his shoulder with a slick popping sound when he pulled away. Dipper watched a shiver run up Bill’s back and his hand clenched around Dipper’s trembling member.

“S-shit!” Dipper muffled into his hand. If he wasn't powered by pure outrage and lov- lust, he would be pushing the demon away and giving him a price of his mind. Who just shoves their hand down the front of someone's pants? Well… this wasn't the first time Bill had done this to him. Hm. Come to think of it, hadn't they been fighting right before then as well? It must be a demon thing to fight and then jerk off that Dipper really can't understand. 

A tongue licked up the side of Dipper's neck and he shuddered. His arms feel stupid and useless in their spasmatic grip of Bill's forearms. Shit. He was being pumped faster now. His eyes clamped shut tightly and heat was spreading quickly over his cheeks.

“Bill… ah, um! Aa-ah.” No, no, no. He would have been mortified if the rough pumping hadn't abruptly stopped and he was brought to the edge of an intense climax only to be denied fulfilment. Dazed and confused he looked back to Bill. Dipper had been so caught up in the sheer feel of this brilliant, horrible creature (he reluctantly admitted) he loves, he had forgotten to be angry. This was probably the most frustrating way Bill could punish him.

There was some sort of evidence that lingered in the corner of Bill's lip. A mixture of saliva left by the best make out they had ever had- in Dipper’s opinion. That curious gold eye was roaming over his flushed face. Looking for something. A satisfied grin stretched Bill's face. 

“What are you thinking?”

Dipper gave him an unamused glare and huffed “That I made a lot of stupid mistakes in my life to end up here.”

Hand pulling back after successfully building up the human, Bill titled his head and looked off to the side as he weighed the validity of the answer before giving a light shrug. “Guess I can't argue with that.” There was a long beat of silence as the air thickened with their thoughts. 

Dipper sighed in irritation and pushed Bill away from him. The interruption had brought back his mind and the stress and annoyance had caused his member to become softer. Somehow it made sense that Bill would mess with like this. Being a tease was the demon's favorite pastime.

“Yeah, well- I hate you and, uh, you're a jerk.” He said diplomatically when he was sure he could speak without groaning in frustration. Bill looked like he was trying to cover up his tracks with a bright grin as usual, but Dipper was pretty sure he hadn't meant to get this… ‘worked up’ over the fight. The outline of a boner fairly visible in the demon's pants.

“Now that's the spirit~! Make sure to save that pent up sexual frustration for fighting tomorrow.” As Dipper shoved past him irritatedly, Bill managed to lean over and press a cheste kiss to the corner of his mouth only to be slapped in the face.

The sting was delicious and Bill found himself watching Dipper’s shapely ass when he stomp off towards the dark camp.

There was that annoying voice that was in no way Bill’s own, nudging at the back of his mind insistently that he had probably made a rash decision but he honestly felt a growing unsettling feeling which he hated even more than the voice. The walls felt like they were closing in around him. Things were going to end and things would start back up again and he wasn't sure if he liked that idea anymore.

He blamed Dipper for the unpleasant feelings. It was easier that way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, Bill. You are one major bitch. You don't know how many weeks I was stuck on that scene! I was like  
>  "should they have sex? Yeah! 
> 
> (Write a really long sex scene) 
> 
> Regrets! Nah, they should just jerk off 
> 
> (starts writing but forgets that they are fighting about 'feelings' and not feelings so it becomes a lovey dovey scene) 
> 
> fuck! Well, well! They can't just stop getting- ah."
> 
> And that's how that happened. I hope you guys liked this oopper long chapter and look forward to more!


	50. Hazardous Freedom

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 50! Can you believe it? I definitely didn't think this story would end up this long ( my guess at the beginning was maybe 20 chapters and that's pushing it). Sorry for the lying when I said I would update every four days now.

It was not long after Dipper’s feeble effort to fall asleep that Bill was shaking him awake. He let out a little groan of frustration before squinting his eyes open. The demon had a bored expression on his face.

“Do you ever sleep?” Dipper wondered out loud, but his voice was filled with the rasp of protesting vocal cords and his voice had disappeared part of the way through only to appear on the last syllable. And then there was Bill’s new outfit to consider. In the dark of an early morning, Dipper could barely make out the yellow trenchcoat and new looking white button down tuck into the fresh black slacks. Now Dipper was feeling a bit more awake and he sat up with wide eyes.

“Did you use magic on your freakin’ clothes? Why?!” It had hissed out between his lips much like a snake. Bill shrugged. He had unwrapped the bandage of his good hand and was checking under his nails for dirt, never minding the dried blood that lay crusted in his nailbed.

“You think I'm going to show up like some dirty mortal and let those dung-balls have a good laugh before I have the chance to peel their skulls from their bodies and catch their itty-bitty whittle brains on fire? It's almost like you're slowly getting dumber- keep up, Pinetree, honestly. It's getting too sad to be funny.” Here Bill gave him a once over. Watching as Dipper stood with a glare and he grinned. With the ruffle of Dipper's already bed ridden hair Bill began to lead his human quietly out of the camp. 

They had reached the edge of town and Dipper marveled at the red dome that arched within view behind other buildings… but then there were the Styrinx. They lumbered around like zombies. Their red eyes scanning the tree line. A few were upheaving pieces of the road and gorging themselves on it. Already considerable damage had been done to the town as the other worldly creatures worked on eating their way through it.

Dipper was starting to get nervous about this. Taking a calming breath, Dipper closed his eyes “Okay, Okay. This is fine. We just need to be careful.” He turned to where Bill had been standing behind a tree and he stomach sank with dread when he realized that Bill had left him. His eyes frantically searched for him among the trees but a choir of screeching broke out from the town. Making his ears ring soundlessly for a disorienting five seconds. 

When he dared to look, he saw Bill plunging the heel of his shoe through the eye socket of a Styrinx whose brain was exposed and on fire. There must have been eight alien potbelly bodies laid out around him and all of them had their brains on fire or sizzling.

Bill turned back Dipper with an excited expression “Not a brain freeze, more like a brain burn!” And then he laughed while he scrapped the bit of face he had gotten on his dress shoe on the ground. “Man, it feels good to be able to kill something again!” Dipper hesitated by the tree line, not sure if it was safe, or if he even wanted to step into the growing puddle of blood that rippled with rainbow coloring much like oil.

But then there was Mabel and the others to think about, so Dipper stepped out into the clearing, holding Ford’s laser gun close to his chest. He managed two of three determined steps in Bill’s direction before sliding down a small crater the Styrinx had eaten out and fell on his butt in some very unforgiving rocks.

There would be more of the scaly creatures on their way. Gnashing their teeth and screeching for revenge for their lost family. As much as he loved to watch Dipper struggle to do the simplest of things (such as walking in this case) he really didn't have time for it.

When Bill pulled him up to his feet, Dipper reluctantly let him with an awkward glare. Awkward in the fact that he didn't really mean it but knew he should do it so it was somewhat half-hearted and not directed at the demon.

“Stay out of my way. I'll handle the Styrinx, toots. You just stand there and look cute holding a gun. ‘Kay?” He didn't wait for Dipper to answer before beginning his leisurely stride through the crumbling shell of Gravity Falls. Dipper stomped after him in a flurry of anger. 

“Don't be such a pompous jerk. You're probably going to use up all your power before this is through and then you're going to crawl back to me, begging to give you more-” “Kinky. Didn't know you were into that sort of thing.” Bill said over top of whatever long winded complaint Dipper was giving him. 

He was only paying half attention to him. It was eerily quiet and they had already made it a block into town, drawing closer to the translucent red dome, but they hadn't run into any more Styrinxs. Something was about to happen… Bill was working it out in his hea- it came to him. They were above them. His eye shot up to the roof of the old barrel factory they were passing and quickly incased Dipper in the blackened flesh of his arm as it broke laws of physics. Styrinxs by the dozens were plunging off the roof with the intent of crushing them to death.

Dipper's first thought was that he had been hit with something really hard. The warmth a the darkness around him was a little more than disconcerting. He struggled against it as what felt like small hands tried to grab ahold of him and keep him in place. Whatever this thing was, it was about to die. Wrestling to maintain his grip on Ford’s gun, Dipper shot a hole through the warm darkness. 

He had set another Styrinx’s head on fire when he felt the shot rip through his arm. He let a growl out and pulled his protective shield back and used a bit more of his demonic powers to heal his arm. Fine. If Dipper wanted to be in the line of battle so badly, Bill would let him. But something about that was making his guts turn and flip. He didn't want that. He wanted to keep that pathetic leach safe.

A laser zoomed past his eye. So close he felt the heat singe his nose. In his conflicted thoughts, he had let the actual fight disappear for a second and a Styrinx had almost its whole mouth over his left side before it had been shot and reeled back. Bill caught himself and kicked another Styrinx right in the barbed long fang tooth that hung from the center of its mouth. It broke. He set them both on fire.

It wasn't just Bill fighting. He realized this with an odd tickle in the back of his lungs. Dipper had killed three on his own and was on his fourth. This was strange for him not to be on the receiving side of that fierce will to win but he was pretty sure he did liked having Dipper fight alongside him.

When the street grew momentarily quiet, Dipper attempted to breathe evenly, ignoring the adrenaline pumping through him. He watched as Bill turned towards him with a hungry eye as he raked it over him in a much different manner than he had no more than an hour prior. “Nice shooting. You're actually not that terrible at it.”

Dipper shifted on his feet and looked anywhere from Bill “Thaaannkkss… I think.”

They moved through the town much like that; shooting and starting fires. It was a workable system for their situation. Dipper hated seeing Gravity Falls like it was the end of the world again, and as they reached the dome it reminded him of Mabel’s bubble and a shudder ran through his bones at the memory.

This dome, however, was also completely different than Mabel’s world. It almost looked as though it was octagonal red tinted windows the size of his thumb sculpted up into a four or five story atrium. Through the structure he could see everyone strung up by ropes of an unworldly material around their torsos at various heights. 

Bill caught the final Styrinx in sight and watched with mild interest as Dipper banged on the glass hopelessly. He took note to the people strung up (and the few ropes that no longer held anyone) and smiled up at it until Dipper aimed his gun at the wall.

When Bill grabbed hold of the gun’s muzzle and pointed it upwards, Dipper screamed in frustration and yanked away from him “Why would you do that!?” The demon held his hands up in defense “Sheesh, take a chill pill. I was just saving you from shooting yourself. Your welcome.” 

What the hell was he going on about? When Dipper only gave him blank stare Bill rolled his eyes and touched the side of the dome. Like a ripple, bright red symbols lit on every octagonal piece then faded away again. As he watched this, Dipper's eyes refocus into the structure and that's when he saw Mabel.

“Oh my god, Mabel!” Relief and despair fought for him desperately. She wasn't eaten. That was a great news! But he couldn't be sure that any of these bodies were still alive or not and that was more than a little worrisome.

“It locked up pretty tight for such a worthless race of idiots. Any attack would just bounce right off.” Bill mused then crack his fingers. “Lucky for you, I am an expert code breaker. This shouldn't take too long at-” a screech, louder and deeper in pitch, then the rise of four huge arms from the other side of the dome it was walking with another pair of arms and at the center of the bizarre creature sat a huge pair of red lips, pulled back in a snarl. Drool dripped from the massive yellowing sharp teeth and Dipper felt the need to scream because he didn't know what that thing was but it was just wrong looking. 

Bill yanked Dipper towards himself to get his attention and through his frightened daze, he understood that Bill was telling him to give him more blood right then because he was running low or something. Right right. That made sense. Dipper fumbled with Bill’s switchblade he had tuck away in his pocket and shoved the blade roughly against his upper arm.

The demon squeezed his arm to make the blood flow faster and took as much as he could get, watching as the arms of the monster groped around blindly for them. It crept closer and closer… and then it's yellowing pinky nail bumped the back of Dipper's legs who gasped in horrified surprise. 

The creature didn't even have time to bring its lips up into a malicious grin before Bill had snapped his fingers and its thick, blubber like skin had disappeared. It screamed and stumbled in disoriented pain and then Bill lit it on fire with all the enjoyment of a small child seeing fireworks in the sky.

Dipper had been crushed against Bill the whole time. The demon's hand in his hair and arm slung tightly around his waist, not letting him raise his head from his shoulder. With the sound of the disturbing creature screaming it's final call as it died, though, Dipper was suddenly grateful for the arms keeping him in place, even as his legs buckled as exhaustion hit him like a ton of bricks.

The screaming had died out soon after and Bill lowered him down to sit on the ground without a word before going back to the dome. Dipper slowly came back to himself panting hard and saw that some of the people inside the human atrium were coming to.

On wobbling legs, Dipper half walked, half crawled to the side where he had seen his sister hanging unconscious and saw with unspeakable relief that she was looking around in confusion. He smiled when Mabel saw him and she laughed when she saw he was crying.

Bill rolled his eye as he worked the code open. Even with the Styrinx teaming up with a celestial demon they were no match for him. Even if he did believe his new form was a bit demeaning for his power. Even more demeaning was the fact he needed Dipper’s consent to to get any power.

The code shattered and the dome shattered with it. People began screaming in fear as they fell towards the ground. Catching his mistake, Bill thought on his toes and used the last stretch of his powers to lower them all slowly to the ground. Using his powers to help people made him curl his nose in disgust but if all these people had landed and hurt themselves. It would indirectly be his fault and he would probably die with no chance of obtaining his other form.

Dipper had fallen over himself in his rush towards Mabel and he had hugged her tightly when he reached her. This was too much for him. If Mabel was taken from him again by another other dimensional creature he would probably have some sort of heart attack. 

“What the heck happened?”she couldn't help but ask and Dipper smiled “a lot of things. I'll tell you once I get you out of this knot.” He untied her and she practically threw herself on top of him.

“Uh, hello? A little help here.” Pacifica called out in irritation. Now that Dipper looked around he saw more than a few people trying to wiggle out of the weird, slimy material they were wrapped up in. Mabel started on Pacifica and Dipper had started on some lady crying out for Reginald but no one was responding.

“Dipper!” Oh… right. Ford and the lone group of uncaptured people were making their way through the charred remains of the Styrinxs towards the survivors. What was Dipper going to say to Ford? Bill and him had completely ignored his plan and went off on their own.

Stanford opened his mouth, about to say something when another screech sounded. Dipper froze up, thinking it was another Styrinx still alive- or worse, another one of those hand-mouth things. But then the scream took on words.

“Bill Cipher!” 

Everyone was beginning to panic and scream as well. Dipper looked around for the source of the scream and finally found it. Gideon hadn't been freed from his bonds yet but Bill stood over him with a sly grin. He was taller than he had been but he was still a wimp with great hair. He was crying and squealing like a pig as he tried to push himself away from the demon.

Dipper's heart jumped into his throat.

Wendy whistled, trying to get people's attention and called authoritatively “False alarm, everyone! Stay calm. If you are out of the ropes please help the person next to you so this can all go a lot fa-”

“I saw you, demon! Don't play dumb with me! You burned that other monster to the ground!” Gideon screeched again. There were murmurs and skeptical looks cast over Bill and this time Ford was the one to redirect everyone’s attention, which surprised Dipper. “This is not the time for arguing amongst each other. Is anyone injured?”

Gideon had gone on pointing out Bill’s eye and clothing but everyone had tuned him out for the time being, though Dipper took notice to a few pairs of eyes lingering on the demon. Windy had given him serious questioning look for a moment that promised to lead to a very uncomfortable conversation later before going to greet her family and friends.

Bill caught his eyes on him and turned to make his way over to him when Georgina Waters shoved her way out of the crowd to reach her son. She had rough grip on his shoulders but her back was to Dipper and he couldn't hear what she was saying. Bill said something rude judging by his sly smile and the way Mrs.Waters went stiff. Then she stormed off, a look of horror on her face as she held her mouth. She looked back over her shoulder once and Bill waved which only made her walk away faster. “See you at home~!” He called happily.

Now, Bill came to Dipper with an unreadable expression. And he didn't even care who was watching or what they might think, Dipper pulled Billed into a tight hug and relaxed for what felt like the first time in ages.

Stanford and Stanley watched their grandnephew and Bill Cipher from afar. They both hated it- hated Bill and the way he messed with Dipper's mind- but then they saw something they did not expect. Though his face was blank and looked off into nothingness, the blond teen’s hands came up to hold Dipper back.

“I was not expecting this.” Stanford argued to the nonexistent conflict in his brother's crossed arms and steely gaze. Stan nodded “teenagers, they make the stupidest choices but they always seem to turn out alright. They don't appreciate their invincibility.” He scoffed then turned away. Ford lingered for a moment before smiling faintly and turned to help his brother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, if you're this far and seen all the shit I've pulled with this story, you should go back and read my author's note at the beginning of the first chapter. I laughed so hard when I read it. I have done basically everything that I said I wouldn't. It's pretty funny.
> 
> Anyway, keep reading! And if you feel inclined to leave comment I will be greatful and will probably respond to any questions you have about the story.


	51. Repair and Re-evaluate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry! Was away on a trip! Should update more frequently now!

The next few days involved a lot of town construction. The following morning all the bodies had ‘mysteriously’ disappeared leaving only the reconstruction of the roads and buildings which had been eaten. Manly Dan and a few other heavy lifters had started on the road and others volunteered to rebuild houses and businesses. Thirty- four people were missing and presumed dead. On the Sunday after, there was a ceremony commemorating the ones they lost. Mayor Tyler had cried during his speech motivating everyone to ‘get ‘em’ but that only seemed to make things worse for those who knew the ones who had died.

Dipper had not been part of any of it. He was weak with a dangerous amount of blood loss and exhaustion. Stanford and him had had a long talk about what happened those days after the party and the scientist had been very surprised by Bill’s actions. Of course, when he had left his room, Dipper had a feeling that Ford could only make sense of what happened by believing that Dipper was the hero not Bill. 

Dipper was feeling a bit better on his fifth day of bed rest and as if sensing this, Bill had showed up at the Mystery Shack looking for him. The place was still under repair and Melody and Soos had been straightening up the gift shop when the blond appeared out of virtually nowhere.

After the initial shock following the people all being saved, rumors about Dipper's boyfriend began to run rampant. Almost everyone in town believed he was Bill Cipher- even those who had no idea who or what that was were being convinced- but they had no proof so they all settled on glaring or threatening him whenever he came around.

Soos was going to have a family with Melody soon and that was real important to him. He had gone to Dipper and had asked him if any of the rumors were true… at first Dipper had lied, saying that Gideon and Bud were making it up but halfway through his made up story he had given up and told him some of what he had been going through (Soos had definitely guessed that his buddy was leaving out a lot for his sake).

When he had refused to tell him about what he had agreed to do for the deal he mentioned, Soos had had a queasy feeling and had left to process the whole thing with Melody right by his side. The both of them had decided to keep an open mind and hope that this last week of summer was a good one for Dipper.

“Pinetree?” Bill asked them as he poked his head in through the doorframe of the shack. Melody stopped cleaning to first look at Soos then to the teen in front of her. Bill wasn't well put together as he unusually was and she took note on how exhausted he looked. 

“I think he’s in the attic. I'll go get ‘em.” Soos said with narrowed eyes and watched as Bill nodded moodily and walked right inside without asking their permission. Melody stayed with Bill while Soos went up to see if Dipper wanted to see the demon but was only able to find an empty bedroom.

Soos came back to the gift shop where Bill was telling a very curious Melody where he got his clothes from. Something about reaching his hand into a vortex of molten lava. Bill fell silent when he saw Soos come back alone, rubbing at the back of his neck. “Sorry dude, uh, Dipper isn't here. I mean, he was, like a few hours ago… but you know, now he isn't.” They watched Bill with morbid curiosity as his sly grin rattled, then fell. It was replaced by something blank and unfeeling. He didn't say anything else to them and threw his arms up in the air when he had stomped outside. Two or three trees caught fire as he stormed off with a dark feeling swirling around him. Soos felt Melody pat his shoulder  
and he sighed “I just hope my bro doesn't like, get killed or absorbed into that guy on my watch.”

Dipper was glaring at Gideon across the diner booth. His sandal covered feet were kicked up on the table without care, making Dipper even more angry. This was stupid and he was pretty sure he might jump across the table and strangle the thirteen year old if he didn't wipe that smug grin off his face.

“Just leave Jim alone, okay? What you're doing to him and his mom is really shit- uh, messed up.” Dipper prodded tiredly. Though he hadn't been out of bed until that day, Mabel had been giving him play-by-play coverage of what had been going on in town while he was recovering and what he heard did not sound good at all.

Gideon waved Dipper off as he took another gulp of the milkshake he had been slurping down even before the older teen had shown up. “Dipper, you and me? We’ve been through a lot together- what with all that went down a few years back- and I've come to respect you in some sense…” here Gideon put his empty cup down with a clack indicating more force than necessary. His thick eyebrows were drawn down and a dark, serious looked settled over his plump face. “But I ain't no idiot, boy. We both know that this Jim fellow is possessed by Bill Cipher. I mean, just look at that done up poodle-boy!”

Dipper’s glare narrowed “Jim is… eccentric- that doesn't mean-” he was cut off as Gideon raised his hand to flag down Lazy Susan. When she reached their booth the younger asked for an order of fries and Susan wrote it down and turned back to another customer who wanted a coffee refill “You're a peach!” He called after her before turning back to Dipper with a suspicious look in his eyes.

“Ya know, I heard and interesting thing about this James Waters character the other day I would love if you could confirm it for me.” He steepled his index fingers against his lips. Eyes scrutinizing every bit of Dipper who had an ill idea about the direction of this conversation. “A little birdie told me you were dating this ‘Jim’. Any truth to that?”

A guttural swell in his chest told Dipper to yell in Gideon’s face to drop this whole thing, but instead his chest puffed up in defense. “Yeah, I am. That's why I'm telling you to stop harassing him and his mom. No more showing up to his house in the middle of the night with an angry mob wielding pitchforks and torches, no more banning Mrs.Waters from going to church. Just stop it.”

“Don't you even care? You're dating a demon!” “Fuck you!” He spat back without much thought then reeled himself back in, rubbing at his aching head. “Sorry, just… it's been a stressful week.” Gideon’s lips were pursed together, it almost looked as though he was holding back tears and Dipper realized for the first time that Gideon’s two friends from prison were settled in the booth behind Gideon and they turned to glare at him briefly.

“No, no. My apologies, I bet this is hardest on you… you poor, poor boy.” With a long moment of the younger shaking his head in apparent ‘sympathy’, Gideon got up out of the seat just has Lazy Susan sat the fries on the table.

“But you best believe I won't let that demon stay on my turf for your sake. Enjoy the fries, Dipper Pines.” He left the diner with his prison buddies close behind.

This was bad, he doubted he had swayed Gideon in the slightest with his show and that left a hollow pit in his plan. His plan to worm around the deal he had made with Bill. His plan to get out of having to kill his boyfriend. Bill had told him down in the lab that the only way the deal he made to be reincarnated worked was that he would be born as a human and either live one full human life or if he wanted his immortal body back he would have to get someone else to kill him. If he did it himself he would die for good or if he hurt someone to get them to kill him he would be punished. Bill had thought, coming into this deal that Dipper, of all people, would want him dead the most but… that hadn't gone over as well as he had wanted it to. Now, he expected for Dipper to kill him because feeling was too much for his mind- and he felt so much for Dipper.

Dipper wished he wouldn't burst into flames if he didn't hold up his end of the deal. He just wished he could do both.

The sun had sunk behind the buildings when Dipper stepped out of the Diner. There was a commotion, people were all running or walking quickly in the same direction and frantic murmurs were permeating the air. Black smoke was curling in the air. Dipper froze, wondering what was happening now when he heard someone nearby saying “The Waters’ house is on fire!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been seeing a lot of really horrible comments left on some of my favorite stories here on ao3. I'm lucky to have such amazingly wonderful ones left on my work for the most part but it makes me really mad when people attack writers personally over stupid things like "I hate this ship!" Or "You don't even know how this is in real life."
> 
> It's really sad to watch these writers give up because of idiots so even if you don't usually leave comments on stories, you should find one you like and leave a nice comment! Even something as simple as "I like your story" or "keep it up" can really make someone not as sure of their writing skills not give up.
> 
> A bit of a rant but it's just really been annoying me. I hope you look forward to more of this story. The next chapter shall be the final climax of this story so be prepared for a shit storm! Anyway! I look forward to seeing what you think of the story thus far!


	52. Burning Up, Then Burning Out

Out of all the stupid things Bill had done. This. THIS was absolutely the stupidest. Dipper had run as fast as he could. His lungs burned- his eyes fogged over with tears that ran sideways over his cheeks. He had tripped over a crater not yet filled in and skinned his knee really bad, but he had pulled himself up and kept on. He reached the massive crowd positioned on Candy’s front lawn. Sheriff Blubs and Deputy Durland were keeping everyone behind the tape they had put up.

The Waters residence was an inferno. Fire poured from every window and the smell of wood burning brought a sicken taste of bile to his mouth. Dipper didn't even notice Mabel pushing her way through the crowd towards him. He was hyperventilating and little noises of pain were being wrenched out of him with every quick breath. He didn't understand- or knew if he wanted to understand. Bill wasn't inside, was he? This didn't make any sense, Bill wouldn't do this if it meant he would die forever… right? Dipper had started to walk towards the tape with the intention of running into that house when Mabel caught his arm in a painfully tight grip.

“Dipper, don’t you dare!” He looked between Mabel's angry tear stained face and the burning building. Something like a long moan of agony broke out of him and he sunk to his knees with Mabel. People nearby had turned their attention away from the house to watch curiously. 

That's when Dipper’s head snapped up with realization. “Gideon.” And there he was, in the crowd of spectators looking bored. Dipper ripped out of Mabel's hold and she called for him to stop but Dipper ran up to the younger boy and punched him in the face. The group irrupted into an explosion of yelling and Blubs broke through the crowd to pry Dipper away from Gideon.

“You did this! Didn't you!?” Dipper screamed as he was yanked back, tears gushing from his eyes uncontrollably now. Gideon lay on Candy’s lawn clutching his jaw with frightened eyes. He shook his head furiously “No! I swear on my granny's grave! I didn't!”

“Dipper Pines, I'm gonna put you in the squad car right now if you don't stop struggling!” Blubs warned. Mabel was there in an instant, fresh tears were falling down her face as she spoke to the sheriff. She was explaining that this was her brother's boyfriend’s house and that she had already called their great uncles to come and get them. Blubs had loosened his hold on Dipper for a split second and that was all Dipper needed.

He elbowed Blubs in the stomach and ran for it. “Durland! Get him!” Blubs yelled but Durland wasn't quick on the up take and he tackled the first person he saw, which was Toby Determined. Mabel screamed bloody murder and tried to go after her brother but this time, Blubs got a firm hold on the Pines.

Dipper barreled through the unlocked front door, enough in his right mind not to grab the heated metal handle and kicked it instead. There was an empty gasoline container melting in the fire on the living room rug. Dipper covered his mouth with his shirt and entered the living room. From the backside of the couch he could see Mrs.Waters sitting on the couch with a bottle of vodka in her clenched hand. 

He rounded the edge of the floral seat and his stomach lerched. Georgina Waters’ brains were blown out. Splatters of bone, blood, and grey matter staining the well kept couch. A gun was clenched in her right hand that lay limply on the cushion beside her. Dipper couldn't look into her eyes, black trails of makeup ran down from her blank eyes. No. He needed to push on. Bill. He needed to know what had happened.

The stairs were dangerously weak and he had trouble getting past the flames. On the second story he gave a quick look into the piano room but it was untouched by the fire at the moment and no demon sat on the bench playing old songs. The third floor was even harder to reach and Dipper resorted to climbng the outside railing of the stair until they aligned with the wall. His hands were singed and he was coughing up a storm from the smoke but he ran through the fire in the hall with little care of his own safety and kicked Bill room open.

Bill was tied up with rope to his desk chair. For a moment Dipper thought he was dead, his eye being closed. But then he opened his eye with a start when Dipper coughed. The demon was calm as he asked “Come to join the party?” 

Dipper dropped down to his knees in front of him and his trembling, burnt hands worked on the knot desperately. Seeing this, Bill sighed tiredly “Look, kid. You should give up while you're ahead.”

“I can't let you die! No!” That earned Dipper an affectionate smirk “Yeah, I figured as much. After I made the deal with you I realized you would rather spontaneously combust than kill me.” He shrugged “this is plan B. Georgina down there’s been wanting to smother me to death for a few years now but her crock of shit beliefs told her not to. This whole ‘Your son is a demon’ was just the excuse she needed. Kinda a win win situation, I guess.”

Dipper's lungs were burning and sweat was rolling down his face. He was going to pass out soon. Finally the ropes loosened then came off but Bill didn't move. “C’mon! There's still time! We can get out-” Dipper wheezed then broke off into another fit of coughing.

Now there was anger in Bill’s expression “Don’t you get it? Even if I did magically change my mind and decided to live out my wretched human life, YOU would die for not keeping your end of the deal and what the fuck would be the point in that? You probably didn't eve think of that, did you?”

Spots were appearing in Dipper's vision and he grabbed hold of Bill's arm as well as he could manage and smiled “‘Found a loophole.”

Candy and Grenda were holding Mabel tightly as all three cried on the Candy’s porch when Stan recklessly threw his car halfway over the curb and onto the lawn where a few bystanders lingered. Stan and Ford climbed out, looking up to the house ablaze and slowly falling in on itself. Stan pushed the hair from his forehead and mutter a quiet “Well, fuck.” Ford’s stomach was doing uncomfortable flips. Dipper would be a mess and as much as he loathed Cipher, he didn't want to see Dipper go through-

That's when he looked to the crying girls on the porch. Fear prickled his skin and sent waves of chills down his spine. “Where's Dipper.”

Stan looked around at his brother's question trying to scope their nephew out but he came up empty. “Oh shit.”

Running up to Mabel and her friends, Stanford yelled in a panic “Where's your brother!?” When Mabel just cried louder, Grenda addressed the distruat older men with tears in her voice.

“Dipper beat up some guys? And then, he just ran into the building and hasn't come back out.”

Stan was practically sprinting towards the house but Blubs blocked his way and Ford grabbed ahold of his brother tightly. “Don't make me use my taser on you, old man.” Blubs warned. Stan fought against his brother's hold crying out “That little idiot! Who does he think he is!? Somebody! You've got to save him!” Ford continued to hold his brother tightly even after Stanley sagged as hopelessness settled in. 

“‘Fire department is havin’ trouble gettin’ here on the count of all those craters in the road. You folks should probably have a seat. He might still come out.” They heard Blubs but couldn't move. Not sure how to move anymore.

“I'm sirry for your loss.” Durland said taking off his hat before Blubs elbowed him roughly. “Shush. Not yet, baby.” “Oh, oh. My bad.”

With every crunch of wood, the house collapsed more and more and with it, their chances of seeing Dipper again. Stan and Ford had gravitated over to the porch where they brought Mabel close. The fire truck sirens began to draw closer when Durland spotted someone staggering out of the house shell.

He rang his cowbell and gave a happy yip. Everyone looked hopefully to where he was pointing “Whoowee! Looks like we've got ourselves a live one!”

Dipper stumbled out the front door, tumbled down the porch steps where he laid unconscious and gasping for air. Blubs and Durland were followed close behind by the Pines family. They carefully carried him away from the house as the fire department arrived. A request for an ambulance was made and the fire was tackled with a water hose.

Mabel was still crying as she held her brother's hand in the back of the ambulance. Ford and Stan were driving behind the ambulance and Soos, Melody, and Wendy were already at the hospital. In all honesty, Mabel really wanted to beat Dipper up for putting her through all this. He was wearing an oxygen mask as the paramedics worked to close a deep cut on his arm.

He came to at some point on the way to the hospital. His eyes glaze and red rolled around in his head until they found her. Mabel wasn't sure how to act in this kind of situation and gave an awkward, forced smile. “Uh, hey, you! You're lookin’... great?”

One of the paramedics pulled back the breathing mask when Dipper started moving his lips. In a hoarse, not-her-brother-voice (much to raspy), Dipper told her,

“Bill’s dead.”

And then he was out again. Mabel’s eyes stung with new tears. She didn't care how it sounded, without looking away from Dipper's face she asked “When he pulls through, can we put him on suicide watch?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes yes, I know this is all horrible but I just let my fingers do all the work and this is what happened.  
> One more chapter and then the epilogue. I hope you look forward to the conclusion of this story.


	53. It's Between Me and Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey~ so! This will be then ending. But for clarification and satisfaction there will an epilogue posted shortly after this chapter.

Hospitals always creeped Dipper out. Ever since he could remember they reminded him of sickness, dreaded shots, and death. If you were in the hospital, chances were you were there for one of those three things.

The room he had was one of the creepiest he had ever been in. He found himself in retrance. Held down to a bed that smelled of ointment and plastic. His first clear thought was that this room was his own private hell. Of course, then he had seen Mabel and Wendy sitting in comfortable looking hospital chairs and talking back and forth in hushed voices.

He groaned as pain ached through his face and they looked up to see him looking around. Mabel put down the magazine she had been flipping through and rushed to his side with a relieved smile. “Dipper! Wanna know how long a nap you took this time? You definitely broke my record!” 

Wendy stood with a pleased smile “look who's back to the land of the living. I'll go tell everyone you're awake.” Dipper watched her go, half in a daze before turning back to Mabel “How long was I out?” “Seventy-two hour, forty-six minutes, and roughly twelve seconds.” Wow. That was a long time. A voice in his head scuffed. Maybe Dipper also got brain damage. He pushed that voice away and let out a long sigh.

“Mabel…” he wraps and Mabel quickly poured him a glass of water from the bedside pitcher. “I know. Sorry about the restraints. I kinda freaked and told the doctors you may be suicidal.” He could not find a response to that for several long moments, then looked away. “Thanks.”

She bit her lip and continued on reluctantly “eh, yeah. Also, Mom and Dad were here. We only told them that… he was your friend. Dad was yelling at the Stans a few hours ago. Then Mom and him left to book a motel room.” The room hung in a brief lull, where neither of them could say anything but the pressure was too much and Mabel tacked on with a dorky voice “Sorry you had to wake up to this crap storm.”

“It's fine, I guess. I mean, it's what I get for running into a burning building.” His fingers came up and felt at the breathing tubes in his nose and in an effort to lighten the mood Mabel punched him in the shoulder lightly “Yeah, and you elbowed a cop!”

“And punched a kid.” He added, grimacing at the ache in his knuckles from their collision with Gideon’s face. She narrowed her eyes at him but a smile gave her away “My brother is such a badass.”

“A badass that's in pain.”

“Still a badass, though.”

“Mm-hm. These restraints really add to my badassery. I could go for some more drugs right about now.”

They both were grinning at each other like loons until the familiar sound of the door opening drew their attention away. Stanley and Stanford stood in the doorway with relief dripping from their expressions. Ford took a step inside.

“Mabel, can we have a moment with Dipper, please?” She looked disappointed but got up from her chair nonetheless. “Better watch out. That guy right there will jack you up! I'll tell the nurse you need more meds on my way back to the lobby.” Giving both confused looking Grunkles thumbs ups she backed slowly out of the room.

With the door once again closed, Stanford took up the seat Mabel had just vacated while Stanley stood with his arms crossed next to his twin.

“I'm sorry-” “No need to be.” Dipper quickly cut in. Stanford took a moment to process the quick reply and Stan took the open air as his time to ask out right “what the hell happened?” Ford was about say something else to change the undoubtedly painful topic but after only one beat Dipper answered “Mrs.Waters tied him to a chair in his room and poured gasoline all over the house before lighting the fuel and shooting herself in the head.”

Ford’s stomach twisted in sympathy and he went to pet Dipper bedhead down but his hand was slapped away with a hiss of, “Don't touch me!” His voice was cold and nothing like how Ford could ever remember it sounding like. Hollow.

Right, right. Because hissing was a thing normal people do. I'm not having that gross hand in my hair.

Stanford's lip drew into a thin line and Dipper could almost see the gears in his head working out a problem in his head. “Bill's Remains were found. It's in surprisingly gods condition too. I wonder way that is. He was in a burning building after all. If you are up for it you could help with the identification process later, it would really help-”

“What the hell are you bringing that up f-” Stanley started but Stanford continued “I really would like to know why you opened such a wide cut in your arm when you were inside there. Was Bill still alive? Did you help him escape somehow?”

Dipper’s eyes filled with tears and suddenly he was sobbing. “He-He wasn't moving and I thought.. if I could give him some of my blood he would… could be alive!” He started to really let loose heart wrenching cries of pain.

Stanford was shocked by the tears. He had been almost certain that Dipper had traded places with Bill. But now he realized his blunder. This was indeed Dipper and his cold, detached attitude was the only thing holding him together. Now that he had broken even that…

“What the fuck was that? You cruel bastard!” Stanley roared and hit his brother upside the head. “I’m, uh, sorry, Dipper. I thought-” Ford tried to amend his mistake but Stanley grabbed him by the collar of his jacket and hauled him towards the door, searing with rage “Yeah, you thought nothing! I'll be back in a minute, Dipper!” They both left the room, leaving Dipper crying hysterically.

Great job on the water works, kid. Really sealed the deal.

Dipper stopped crying the moment the door shut behind them and he sighed happily. The feeling of another stirring in his mind was like a tight hug from inside.

You okay? Ford was getting suspicious.

Takes a lot more than Fordzy getting suspicious to make me cry.

Dipper rolled his eyes and leaned forward as much as his restraints would allow and slurped down some much needed water from the straw Mabel had put in his cup.

Mm. I like the way your body feels all tied up.

You know, you better keep stuff like that to yourself until I can put you back in your body or you won't like what I'll do to it.

Bet you I will.

Whatever, I'm taking a nap now so it's light out for you.

But we just woke up!

And I'm tired.

Fine, fine. 

Thanks.

Sleep tight my little Pinetree~ I'll make sure the big bad dream demon doesn't eat any of your memories or make you have wet dreams of his sexy bod.

Good…

Dipper smiled and closed his eyes. Bill was going be an annoying (very annoying) part of his mind for an indefinite amount of time that only he would know about but that was fine by him. Bill would be all his for the rest of their intertwined lives.

If Bill had heard that last thought than he opted to not tease Dipper, just this once

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked this chapter. And I will see you back for the very last chapter soon~!


	54. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this be-ith the end-ith. I hope this brings you some closure.

It had come out in a therapy session his parents had forced him to attend that Dipper's ‘friend’ that died that summer was more than just a friend. The violent mood swings his parents had reportedly seen in him, his therapist thought might be signs of dissociative identity disorder brought on by the traumatic murder of his lover.

Dipper had nodded at all the cues to nod, showing that he was understanding her and shook her hand and thanked her before leaving. Two months later, his parents, Mabel, and him had taken a weekend trip up to Gravity Falls. The first time he was allowed to in two years.

His mom had been wary about letting him visit James and Georgina Waters’ graves but had consented with the promise of bringing Mabel with him. 

They met up with Stanley and Stanford who had stopped living in Soos and Melody’s basement after baby JJ (Jesus Jr.) had come along and now they lived in a cabin in the woods closer to town.

Dinner had been strained between the Stans and Mabel and Dipper's parents. But they had suffered through it.

In the middle of the night, Dipper and Mabel had snuck out to the graveyard.

When they returned to their sunny home in California, their parents were surprised to see the drastic improvement of Dipper's mood. The violent mood swings had stopped abruptly.

He stopped seeing his therapist and moved into a small apartment closer to his college campus not long after.

And things were great.

Besides when things like this happened.

He had opened the front door of the apartment after a long day of lectures and had only gotten around to tossing his book bag to the side when he saw the dead body sprawled out on the loveseat. 

With an unamused glare he shoved the tall blond off his chair and took satisfaction in the loud smack of his boyfriend’s head hitting the wood coffee table.

There was a long, comfortable silence and Dipper took the time to settle into the seat before the first inhale of breath flooded the body scrunched up on the floor.

“You gotta stop leaving your body around.” Dipper announced as Bill sat up and stretched. He was shuffling through a stack of papers when the demon plopped down onto the seat beside him. “Oh, but your reaction-” “That only happened twice! If I knew you would try to give me a heart attack everyday I would have killed you when I had the chance.” 

Bill grinned and leaned in, pressing his lips to the shell of Dipper's ear and nipped at it. “You always say the sweetest things~” the brunette pulled away from him and covered his burning ear with his hand as blush spread across his face “S-stop! I'm still mad at you for this morning.”

An irritated sigh escaped Bill's lips and he tossed his head back dramatically “You didn't even listen to my whole idea!” Dipper tossed him a heated glare “Anything that starts off with you saying ‘ski masks, lube, and body shaming’ is bound to be stupid.”

“I said body worship with a hint of shame. The way you say it makes it sound dumb.” Bill corrected 

Dipper laid back against cushions, giving up on the ridiculous argument and let his mind wonder.

There were still nightmares… more often that he liked to admit. But these nightmares were different than the ones before. These ones often focused on the Waters’ house up in flames. The dead body of Georgina Waters was the less terrifying ones out of the lot. Her corpse speaking to him was nothing compared to the dreams where he made it up the stairs.

A shiver ran through Dipper's back and closed his eyes on the horrid nightmares. He had to remind himself that that was just his mind messing with him. That Bill and himself were fine, right?

Yes, yes. Don't get the nightmares confused with reality again. 

That had sounded like Bill’s voice dripping in annoyance in his head. Dipper opened his eyes and glared over at his boyfriend. That occasionally still happened. Dipper had gotten pretty good at fending off Bill from his mind over all this time but every now and then, when Dipper's thoughts were particularly loud and ‘obnoxious’ (as the demon put it) Bill would drift from his reanimated body a little and nudge the pesky thoughts away.

Back in that burning house Dipper had made probably the best idea pitch anyone half suffocated could. After days of rethinking the wording to their deal he had discovered a loophole that just might save Bill. One thing that Bill had not made more specific. ‘You have to kill me in this body so I can   
tack back my old body’ 

had been his exact wording. Maybe he had left the wiggle room unknowingly wanting Dipper to find it and save him. With another blood sacrifice, Bill had just enough juice to transfer his consciousness into Dipper's head. But that body wasn't just some poor guy Bill was taking out on a joy ride. No, that body was Bill's body. With his consciousness no longer inside, the heart and brain activity stopped. But he was still connected enough to keep his body from rotting.

Dipper had killed Bill Cipher. The rules of the deal had never stated that he couldn't bring him back to life.

Because of all the commotion about the return of Bill, Dipper had chosen to tell everyone that he was dead, rather than tell them that Bill’s consciousness was hiding out in his head. 

Mebel of course had figured it out no more than two months after they had returned home after catching him mumbling his reply to something the demon had said inside his head.

After two years literally inseparable, Bill was allowed back into his body Dipper and Mabel had dug up on their first trip back to Gravity Falls.

It had been harder for a while after that. Bill had been secretly sleeping in Dipper's car until he finally had enough to buy his current apartment.

Dipper titled his head towards Bill to find the demon looking back at him expectantly. Even if he tried, he was positive he couldn't keep the smile off his face. Feigning reluctance, Dipper open his arms invitingly. As he expected would happen, Bill tacklesd him back against the arm of the loveseat and connected their lips passionately.

If Dipper asked, Bill would have denied it but Dipper was positive that when he had told him his plan for saving him in that burning house, The idea that he could be with Dipper was all it took to drop the idea of dying. He often said that he decided to stay with him because he thought that his human body was devilishly attractive for a human and then he would go off on a rant about how Dipper should be grateful.

Bill pulled back from the kiss with a fake innocently hopeful expression “Hey, Pinetree. I love you~” Dipper smiled and kissed his cheek.

“Still not doing the ski mask thing.”

“Dang it.”

 

The End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And de all lived happily ever after (besides Mrs. Waters) I hope you liked this story. Thanks for sticking it through. If you have any final thoughts about the story I'd love to read them down below. Again, thanks a whole lot and maybe (hopefully) I'll see you around for another billdip story~

**Author's Note:**

> So~? How do you like it so far? I plan to post a new chapter ever four days (unless something comes up) and this story will be fairly long, so please stick around for more! My beta reader has given up after chapter 31 so please forgive the many spelling mistakes that my eyes did not catch.


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